


If You Think I'm Pretty, You Should See Me In A Crown

by Cookiemonster2000



Series: Babylon Is One Hell Of A City [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alice being a human is Very Important Actually, Babylon AU, Badass Connor, Explicit Language, F/M, Flustered Connor, Haha but for real it was the Only Way, Human Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), I love me some badass Kara okay, Kara is a sweetheart, NOW WITH MORE CONNOR!, Poor Connor, Rev!Kara, Revolution Leader Kara, badass Kara, revolutionary!kara, sorry about Alice and
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:02:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16205612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cookiemonster2000/pseuds/Cookiemonster2000
Summary: One dark and stormy night, an android woman fought a grown man and rescued his daughter from his abusive clutches.The two found their way to a small organization of deviant fighters, without a real leader and without a true name.The android woman decided that sometimes, to make the world a safe place for her and her daughter to live together in peace, a few people need to gethurt.Kara is the leader of a separate revolutionary group called Babylon. Although its sister group, Jericho, might be peaceful, Babylon is most definitively less so, and its leader is famous for her habit to do nearly anything to protect her own.Connor, the newest detective android prototype, has one ultimate mission:To find this leader, and take her out of commission. By force.'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD.-Isaiah 39:6





	1. The Newest Ms. Anderson

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ensorcello](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ensorcello/gifts), [TheWolfeAndTheRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWolfeAndTheRose/gifts).



"Good morning, Lieutenant."

Hank nearly cracked his head on the wall from whirling around so fast. He knew that voice, and it did not belong in the Detroit Police Department office--

But there she was anyway, startling blue eyes laughing at him already, a tight, tiny smile on her face. She was garbed in civilian attire, messy enough to pass for casual, but attractive enough that she didn't get a second glance, except perhaps by an interested passerby. Her boots were brown and serviceable, and her arms were crossed as she tilted her head at him, raising her eyebrows in anticipation. Her LED was, of course, missing, but he recognized her for what she was in an instant.

Kara Williams was in the building.

In a moment, he was over his shock, up and out of his seat--albeit a bit quicker than usual. 

"Hey, how're you doing?" Hank forced his voice to stay even. Act casual, act casual.

"Fine, yourself?" _She_ was having no problems, of course.

 _Fuckin' androids._ Once at her side, he leaned over casually, arm against the wall. She tilted her head up to look at him quizzically.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed in her ear. "This is the DPD, _Connor_ is here!"

"Makes the game more interesting, though, doesn't it?" she purred.

"You're gonna get taken in, or hurt, or--"

Kara's eyes danced, but her face was stoic. "Oh, Lieutenant, I didn't know you cared."

"I don't, but that little girl--your entire cause--" Hank struggled for words, found he had none, and went back to the basics. "What are you _doing_ here?"

She leisurely glanced around the room, taking stock of the few inhabitants, who were all wrapped up in paperwork or coffee. "Aren't you going to invite me into your office?"

"I don't have an office," he spat.

"Hm. That's a shame."

"What. Do. You. Need."

"All business, I see. All right." She pulled a small floppy folder out from inside her jacket. "Babylon is going to strike soon. We are going to 'attack' the force, attempt to incapacitate a bit of the army. Try to take out their armed forces before they have a chance to kill us all the moment we do anything, you know. At the same time, Jericho is going to launch a full-scale public peaceful rebellion. Markus believes if the humans are encouraged peacefully--well, I won't get into that." She shot him a brief smile. "North and I aren't completely convinced, however. So we've decided that we're going to try to make it a bit safer for him and his league of pacifists."

"What do you need _me_ for, then?"

Kara closed the folder with a snap. "I want to you ensure that nonlethal weapons are available for us to take and use during the raid. We don't want any fatalities on either side if it can be helped. . . But believe me when I say Babylon is _not_ to be trifled with." Her voice went cold.

Hank scoffed. "I believe you, remember? No need to threaten a poor old man."

Kara's face lit up again. "Wonderful! Then I'll be on my way. As always, your service is invaluable to us."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Also. . ." She leaned in again, lowering her voice. "Just a heads up, I'm your niece now."

" _Huh_?" he demanded.

"One of your coworkers was. . . interested, and I had to tell him why I was here." She shrugged. "I'm afraid he wanted a bit more information than I could give him, but. . ."

"Gavin." Hank rolled his eyes. "Was he hitting on you?"

Although Kara's voice stayed even, Hank caught a faint cyan flush on her cheeks. ". . .Possibly?"

"HA!" He doubled over, laughing until his sides hurt. "Prick hates plastics, and-- doesn't realize--"

"Mhm." Judging from her tone, Kara was thoroughly unimpressed with Hank's mirth. "Well, keep him away somehow. I can't let him compromise my missions."

"What," he asked, wiping a tear from his eye, "can't handle lover boy yourself? A big girl like you?"

She shot him a look. "This is more important. Get us the nonlethal weapons. Try to lower security somehow. We won't kill you; you won't kill us. Got it?"

Hank offered her an overly flamboyant and sarcastic salute. "Aye aye, cap'n."

Kara's mouth pricked up at the edges. "All right. Then, for now, I shall bid you--"

Hank caught her expression, and turned to look behind him.

 

At another android, LED flashing red, staring at them.

 

"Lieutenant??" Connor demanded. "Why--what--when--"

When Hank looked back at Kara, her face was composed into a professional smile, but her bright blue eyes were. . . intense.

"Connor. How nice to finally meet you."

Connor was at a total loss for words, gaze flicking back and forth between his partner and the android, desperately looking for an explanation, finding none. His plaintive expression made Hank almost wince.

 _Kid, aren't you going to say_ anything?

". . . However nice it is to be subject to your bewildered gaze, I'm afraid I don't have the time to stand here all day." Kara offered the dumbfounded detective a blinding smile. "I hope to see you at Warehouse 43 next Saturday. Goodbye!"

And with that, she waltzed out of the DPD doorway and into the rainy morning.

Hank closed his eyes for a moment, bracing himself for the storm to come.

 

" _Hank_?? Was that--?"


	2. Paradise Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara was just a maid. She was created to take orders from an owner. To take care of children, to do chores around the house, to fulfill certain unsavory favors. . . all without complaint, without a cross word. To stand around looking pretty. To be an ornament, an ornament that works for its "living."
> 
>  
> 
> Kara is no longer just a maid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SERIOUS language warning in this chapter. The rest probably won't be nearly as bad, but Todd is just. . . _ugh._ He's unpleasant.

" _Kara_!"

Tears were streaming down the little girl's face as she peered out from behind her android. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the caretaker's torso, as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

Kara didn't hear her shout. Every ounce of focus in her being was tunneled at the greasy, dirty man frozen in the doorway ten feet away.

"Get on the ground," she repeated softly.

Todd stared at his android. His face was blank, but it was shifting rapidly to fury. "You. _You_ stole my gun."

"I did and I'd do it again, now get on the ground."

"What do you think you are?" he demanded, voice rising. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're--"

"ON THE GROUND!!" she thundered as he moved to take a step forward. "Or I swear to whatever God you don't believe in that _I will shoot you_."

He slowly raised his arms above his head and lowered to his knees, shaking visibly.

"Kara, _please,_ " Alice begged.

For what, Kara didn't know.

"It's going to be okay, Alice," she whispered, her voice cracking for the first time--just a bit. "We're going to get out of here."

Todd lurched, and Kara steadied the gun again, retreating a few steps.

"The fuck is this?" he was muttering to himself, as if waking up suddenly. "Where are you gonna--what are you gonna _do_?"

"You don't need to worry about that." In a moment, she was cold as ice again. "Face on the floor."

"You can't get away with this. You're just a _fucking machine_."

Kara bit her lip and resisted the urge to squeeze the trigger. _It would terrify Alice. It would scar her. I can't shoot him in front of her._

She tasted Thirium.

"Alice, do you have your bag packed?" she asked gently.

The little girl nodded.

"Clothes? Toothbrush? Your stuffed rabbit?"

"Yes."

"Good, then we will be off." The android slowly began to inch around the man on the floor, giving him wide berth. Alice shuffled, tripping a little in her effort to keep behind Kara.

"You won't get away with this," Todd repeated, his voice a bit muffled from being on the ground. "Alice. ALICE!!"

Alice flinched, her face going white. Kara risked lowering a hand to the girl's to squeeze it.

"Don't talk to her." she said, voice hollow.

"Alice, you're really gonna abandon me? Like your mother? Leave me for a _robot_?" Todd's tone flipped from heavy with hatred to vulnerable. "That robot's _built_ to be perfect, I'm just a _person_!"

"I said _stop._ " Kara growled.

There was a half second of silence where the world seemed to freeze. Instinctively, Kara thrust Alice backwards into the hall with her body--

Todd lurched again, suddenly, violently, slamming into her with the force of a rhino. She flailed desperately, but he was going for her gun, her _gun_ \--

There was a bang, and a little girl's blood curdling scream of pure terror.

A loud, deafening _thud_ as a body hit the floor.

Then, silence once more.

 

Deep, crimson blood pooled out onto the carpet. Kara shook off the suddenly limp arms, which were now dangled helplessly over her body with no support, and scrambled backwards into the hall, chest heaving.

The gun laid on the floor, abandoned.

_I just shot Todd Williams in the chest._

_I just shot_ Todd Williams _in the_ chest.

She glanced behind her, and saw Alice's stricken, white face.

". . . is he. . ."

"It doesn't matter," Kara's breath was ragged. "The neighbors will have heard that, they're sure to call the police. We need to get out, now."

Alice didn't move. She was staring at the body that used to be her father.

"He didn't want to hurt me."

Kara clenched her fists so tightly sharp stabs of pain shot up her spine. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the little girl, pulling her into a close embrace.

"Shhh. It's going to be okay."

"He was just. . . unhappy. . ." the girl was whispering, dumbfounded.

"Alice, this isn't your fault."

Kara was relieved to hear her voice held emotion once more as Alice's eyes, shining with new tears, met her own.

"I. . . I know."

A door slammed somewhere in the neighborhood, startling Kara out of her stupor. _Time to go._

But the gun. . .

She pushed Alice gently into the hall, and ventured back into the room, crouching despite the lack of real danger.

The gun was still lying there. It had a bit of glistening liquid on the barrel.

"Kara, do we need it?"

Kara glanced back at Alice, then at the gun.

"We. . . we might, Alice."

"Can you take it?"

Kara touched the handle gently, with a single finger, as if it would burn her.

It didn't.

"Yes."

She picked it up, gingerly, and held it lightly, switching the safety back on.

"Come on, Alice."

Kara hurried back to the hallway and grabbed the small backpack from where Alice had dropped it. Although it had her clothes and other necessities, Kara knew that a little human girl would need food. Warmth. Shelter.

 _The strongbox._ Todd probably had some money locked away in there. But did she want Alice going into _his_ room?

"Alice," Kara whispered, "I want you to go downstairs and wait by the door. I'm going to go as fast as I can, I'll be there in a minute."

"I want to stay with you."

She closed her eyes. One, two, three. _Of course, she can't let you out of her sight--you're all she has now. Why would you ask her to do that?_

"All right, Alice, but stay close, then."

Wordlessly, she handed over the backpack, and the little girl strapped it to her back, nodding.

Every step she took down the hall, she felt the walls constrict further around her.

_You killed him. You killed your owner._

_He was going to hurt Alice, you did what you had to do._ she argued, pitifully.

 _You shot him in the chest,_ it whispered. _You're going to take his money. You've taken his daughter. . ._

A new voice, a different voice--not accusing, but curious; familiar, but alien--rang out in her mind.

 _What_ exactly _do you think you are?_

They were at the door. The room stank of alcohol and Red Ice, and the lights were off. A ceiling fan turned lazily in the corner of Kara's eye.

Outside, it began to drizzle.

A shoulder bag was leaned against the wall. Instinctively, Kara picked it up and checked it--empty, but plenty of space for food, money. . . She pulled it on over her shoulder and dropped in the gun, glad to have the offending weapon out of her hand. Her thoughts quieting for a moment once it was out of her sight, she focused again on glancing around and searching for something useful. . .

The wallet was sitting out on his dresser, and she picked it up, yanking it open. About a hundred dollars inside. Was Todd planning on picking up more drugs soon?

She shook the thought away and continued searching it.

A few receipts.

Some loose change.

A photo of Alice. Coffee-stained.

Kara's gut wrenched and she glanced backwards instinctively to make sure Alice hadn't seen. No; she was looking at the closet, stuffed with dirty, dark clothing, as if something was going to pop out of it. Thank God.

There it was--the key to the lockbox. Thanking her lucky stars that Todd was an idiot as well as an abusive prick, Kara bent down and pulled the box out from under the sagging bed. This caught Alice's attention again.

"What's that?"

"A lockbox," she explained, jiggling the key in and twisting it sharply. "It's where people keep their--"

_Valued possessions._

It was crammed full of Red Ice.

Slamming it shut, Kara tried to control her heart rate and breathing. Her stress levels were rising exponentially. She couldn't risk getting upset. Not in front of Alice.

"Well," she began, fighting to keep her voice controlled, "that might not help us much."

. . .Then again, it might. This was an exorbitant amount of drugs, and it was likely worth a lot, considering where it was stored. However, having it on Kara's person wouldn't look very good. . . but it wasn't like she had a lot of options, and even an opportunity to get just a _little_ more money was looking _very_ good right now. . .

Alice, not noticing Kara's internal struggle, looked worried. "Is that what makes Daddy. . . angry?"

". . . yes."

"Then we shouldn't take any of it," she said firmly.

Kara offered her a brief smile. "You're right. Let's get out of here."

 

As Alice turned away, she snatched up a huge handful of the stuffed baggies and dropped it in her shoulder bag.

 

Kara helped Alice into her little gray rainjacket and pulled on a large jacket of Todd's herself before they left the building.

As they stepped over the threshold, Kara took hold of Alice's hand, tightly.

"We're going to be okay," she murmured. "Trust me."

Alice squeezed back, and glanced up at Kara with an adoring little smile.

"I know, Mom."

After a moment of primal, inward struggling, Kara smiled, blinking back tears of her own.

_Can robots cry?_

"I love you, Alice."

* * *

The bus was warm. Kara was thankful for that much.

She ran again through her list of priorities, calculated carefully and mathematically:

1\. Get Alice out of the rain and stabilize her vitals.

2\. Get Alice somewhere safe for the night.

3\. Get Alice something to eat.

4\. Make sure Alice gets some rest.

5\. Find trustworthy people to help care for Alice in the long-term.

6\. Find a long-term home for Alice.

7\. Find a way to provide for Alice in the long-term.

The first of these was done, at least temporarily. This list was constantly running through her brain--a list of new missions for her to follow. Except now, she obeyed her own commands.

Smiling slightly at her own mind's daring, Kara glanced down at the slumbering girl, whose head was resting on her shoulder. Her mind ran through another list of variables she needed to keep track of:

1\. Alice's hair. Still clean. 

2\. Alice's clothes. Somewhat clean, but will need to be washed soon.

3\. Alice's body. . . Needs a bath, she hasn't had once since yesterday.

Overall Mission for Tonight: Find Alice a place to stay, someplace warm, preferably with a bathroom and a bed.

She closed her eyes and rested her own head on Alice's. _It's going to be okay,_ she reminded herself. _It has to be okay._

The near-empty bus lurched to a stop, and Kara heard footsteps coming down the aisle. She opened her eyes to see the driver, standing before them with his arms crossed.

"End of the line," he said, not unkindly. "You've gotta get off now."

Kara glanced down at the warm little body curled up on her. . . and thought about the cold, rainy darkness outside the bus. "But. . she's sleeping," she protested weakly.

"Then wake her up. You've got to leave."

Gently, hesitantly, Kara touched Alice's forehead. " _Alice._ Wake up."

The girl slowly opened her eyes, reaching around Kara instinctively and pulling her near. "So it. . . wasn't a dream," she whispered to herself.

"No, it wasn't," the android answered. "We have to get off the bus now, okay?"

Alice stretched, and yawned. "Yes, Mom."

There it was again. _Mom._

Alice, oblivious to Kara's flinch, blinked the sleep out of her eyes. "Where are we going?"

Taking her hand and shuffling past the bus driver, who stepped aside, Kara wracked her brain for an answer. 

Out in the cold once more, the wind bit through her thin jacket in a moment, and the freezing rain drained off the bus's roof directly upon them. Cursing her creators for allowing her to feel the cold, she pulled her light coat as tightly around herself as she could and pulled Alice a few steps under the bus stop, where they huddled under the overhang, protected from the shower.

The city. This was the city, then. Dark alleys all around, bright neon signs, flashing and hurting her eyes. . . unpleasant smells and noises. She and Alice didn't belong here. They needed to find a safe haven in the swirling, grimy madness.

Like a blessing from above, a sign caught Kara's eye. A motel close by had vacancies. . .

"We're going to find a place to sleep." Kara finally answered.

Alice's stomach rumbled. She blushed.

"After we find you something to eat," the android corrected herself. That was a priority now, she supposed. If Alice was hungry, she couldn't focus very well. . . and being hungry was uncomfortable.

Alice shouldn't ever have to be uncomfortable again.

"Do we have enough money to buy food?" she asked hopefully. 

Kara's mind was racing, calculating. "Yes," she said hesitantly. "But, we should get something cheap."

"There's a convenience store over there," Alice stated, pointing down the road.

"'Open twenty-four hours,'" Kara read. "I suppose they're open right now, then."

Her imagination flashed with red lights, dangerous characters, convenience stores and deals and druggies. . .

"They have pizza at those stores. They sell slices of them." Alice caught Kara's expression. "And healthy snacks, like granola bars!" she added hastily.

Kara hesitated. "Healthy snacks. Granola bars last for a long time. . ."

. . . and she was already itching to be rid of the unpleasant contents of her shoulder bag.

"Okay," she sighed in defeat. Alice smiled.

A _genuine smile_.

_Maybe this won't be so hard, after all. . ._

"We're going to be quick, though!" Kara added, grabbing Alice's hand and bracing herself for the wet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've rewritten Kara and Alice's escape. It's going to be slightly different, with a different destination (of course). This chapter is fairly similar, but not to worry--we're about to have a major divergence at the convenience store.
> 
> Expect some seriously varied chapters, length-wise. I never know how long a scene will be until I write it. However, I will attempt to write a chapter of some length every Sunday.


	3. New Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made. Maybe good, maybe bad.
> 
> Ultimately, Kara has a new possible destination. The land of the free, and their possible home. . .
> 
> . . . if she's brave enough to pursue it.

The automatic doorbell rang as the glass doors slid open. Alice shuffled inside ahead of Kara, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up in the heated store. The android, however, took a moment to scan the area and survey the situation systematically.

_Only one worker, due to the late hour._

_A variety of items, including tools, non-perishable foods, and some assorted clothes were being sold._

_Security cameras on every upper corner of the room._

Well, she wasn't planning on stealing anything, but still. . . not good. She was recognizable by her model, and her LED.

Should probably take that out if she wanted to pass for a human. . .

The cashier tilted his head at them and squinted his eyes. Kara didn't blame him--they were a ragged-looking pair.

Alice was over at the counter, where the hot food was being sold. She was obviously trying not to look famished, but her shining hazel eyes were giving her away.

"Excuse me," Kara said tentatively, approaching the cashier. "Do you think you can help us?"

"An android taking care of a human," he chuckled, seemingly not hearing her. "That's a new one."

Something about his words startled a part of her, and she felt a flicker of annoyance.

_You have a gun,_ something mentioned in the back of her mind. _You can take what you need. . ._

Kara quickly shook her head and laid a hand her bag nervously. Money. She _had_ money, and he had no reason to turn her away. 

And therefore, she had no reason to rob him.

"I have money," she added, just as much to herself as to him. "Can we get some food?"

He gestured towards the aisles, a hint of a mocking smirk on his lips. "Be my guest."

Taking Alice's hand and quelling the frustration, Kara glanced around the place once more. 

"What do you want to eat?"

Alice gripped her hand tighter. "Can. . . may I have some pizza?" she asked, hopefully, glancing again at the greasy junk food behind the glass counter.

Kara offered her a gentle smile. "Of course. Anything else?" 

With Alice's help, Kara picked out a few snacks she could fit in her bag. _At least she won't be hungry tomorrow,_ she thought, trying not to think about how much the motel would cost. . .

As they were heading back to the counter, Kara spotted a small stuffed cat at the top of the shelf. 

Alice caught her eye and hastily spoke up. "I don't need another toy, Kara, I already have my White Rabbit, don't worry--"

"Don't you think your White Rabbit deserves a Cheshire Cat friend?" Kara suggested, taking the toy down without hesitation and handing it to the girl.

Alice didn't respond, but the gratitude in her eyes was overwhelming. 

As they paid the cashier, the door slid open once more, revealing a man who looked even worse for wear than the girls themselves. The overpowering smell of cigarette smoke and bad vegetables wafted in with him.

Kara oh-so-subtly shuffled Alice protectively behind her as the man stumbled over to the counter.

"Got any cigs?" he mumbled, coughing a bit.

The cashier had stiffened a bit. "No."

"I'll take some Camels," the man continued, ignoring him. "I can pay for 'em, too--"

" _No_ , Liam."

Without warning, the stranger--Liam--slammed his hands down on the counter. "Why the _fuck_ not?"

"We. . ." The cashier's hand was creeping down below the counter--Kara realized with a start he was probably armed in some way, and froze for an instant, remembering her almost-decision to rob him. 

"I just need a hit o' something, man!" Liam was trying to remain calm. "I got cash!"

He thrust a hand into his baggy coat's pockets and pulled out a fistful of hard cash.

Kara's face stayed stone, but her mind was racing, calculating. _I can get rid of the drugs now. I can get cash for them. Is that man safe? Can I keep Alice safe? What if the cashier calls the police? But what if I can kill two birds with one stone? This opportunity won't present itself again so readily. But Alice._

The cashier was shaking his head. "No. Get out of my store, before I have to do something I regret."

The man grimaced, and his hand shook as he returned it to his jacket pocket. "Useless prick," he muttered under his breath as he headed towards the exit.

_Follow him, or stay with Alice?_

A split second of agonizing reasoning. She had a mere moment to choose.

 

"Alice, can you do something for me?" Kara whispered, pushing the basket of items they were waiting to pay for into her arms.

"Yes, Kara?" she answered obediently.

"Go wait in the back of the store. I'll be back in five minutes."

Alice's eyes went wide with panic. "You're not going to--" she began.

"I'm _not_ leaving," Kara said forcefully. "Just wait, all right? I'm heading outside just a minute. Stay warm."

No more time. Liam was out the door.

Kara speed-walked as quickly as she could while still looking reasonably casual after him.

 

"Excuse me, sir?"

He didn't turn, kept a constant pace away from her. "Whadda you want, plastic?"

"You said you needed something, a. . hit? Of something?"

Liam seemed to pause for a moment before squaring his shoulders and forging ahead. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"I was thinking. . ." pause. What to say to make him less suspicious, more willing to negotiate. . . 

". . . don't you want something a little stronger than plain nicotine?" she asked, making her tone slightly teasing.

He stopped entirely, abruptly. Kara nearly ran into him, but regained her balance just in time.

The rain had slowed to a faint drizzle. The two were standing beside an empty-seeming alley with a dumpster.

"What's it to you." He finally responded, hesitantly, but definitely interested.

Kara took a gamble. "You said you had cash. I want cash."

"What have you got?" he demanded.

"Red ice."

"Quality?"

Glancing around, Kara shouldered her way past him and into the alley. She pulled a single packet from her shoulder bag and held it out.

Liam eyed it greedily. "It's all right," he said finally. "How much you got?"

"How much will you pay for just that?" she challenged.

"Show me how much you have first."

Kara bit her lip, but opened the bag up a little wider.

The man's eyes widened. "Hooooly _shit_."

"Give me the money, now." Her voice chose the wrong time to shake.

The man's face was contorted. "Hand it over first."

"Not until I'm paid, thank you," she replied curtly.

"Hand it over, you _plastic_ \--"

Without warning, Liam lunged for her, grabbing desperately for the bag. Kara fell backwards in panic, back hitting the brick wall directly behind her. She slid downwards, trying to avoid his blows, but he was desperate and she was stuck, _stuck_ \--

A mass curled up behind the dumpster moved, and the enraged druggie was on the ground. Kara blinked looking for her savior, and found a pair of deep brown eyes, glaring down at the mess of her attacker. 

Liam managed to scramble back against the dumpster, but the woman was quicker. She landed a few swift kicks on him, making the man curse and spit, but he managed to pull himself back enough to sprint from the alley and around the corner. In another moment, he was gone.

Kara was frozen. "I. . . thank you."

"You better have a really good reason for pulling that stupid deal," the woman responded angrily, to her shock. "Humans aren't the type to forgive easily."

"Humans? But. . ."

The woman sighed, and her face went white.

Literally, her skin vanished in a moment, and Kara realized with a start that _this was a deviant with her LED removed._

The android turned to her, eyes cold, ready to reprimand once more. When she saw Kara's face, however, the stranger's expression softened. She sighed again, and rubbed her temples.

"Just. . .throw out that shit, now," she commanded.

Kara obeyed without a second thought, dumping the Red Ice packets into the dumpster.

"What made you decide to go and do a thing like that for?" the android demanded. "Selling drugs to a random homeless asshole on the street? Don't you have _any_ sense?"

"I thought. . . I needed some money." Kara was at a loss for words. "Thank you."

She snorted. "Don't mention it. Kicking the crap out of that guy was my personal pleasure."

"I. . . I'm glad you enjoyed it?"

The android's eyes widened, and she burst out laughing.

Kara hugged the bag close to her chest. It felt very empty indeed with nothing inside but cash and the gun, and her mind was racing again. She had to get back to Alice as soon as possible.

"I like you," the android chuckled, finishing her little laughing bout and shaking her head. "Listen to me, okay?"

"What is it?"

"You're like me," she said firmly. "You deserve a place to live in freedom. I'm on my way to such a place right now."

"You. . ." Kara suddenly found herself reeling again. "You are?"

"Maybe I should just show you," the android mused.

Suddenly, the other android grabbed her arm, removing her skin and connecting their minds.

_Flashing, purple lights._

_A disgusting man, reaching for her._

_Running into the storage room and pulling on spare clothes._

_Another android sharing a memory with her. . ._

_**J E R I C H O.** A place to be safe; a place to be free._

Kara's arm was released in a second, but it felt like a lifetime that she'd just seen flash before her eyes. And it probably was.

"That's what I'm trying to find," the android explained shortly. "You should come with me. We can do it, together."

"I. . ." Kara shook her head. "I'm trying to protect a little girl. She can't go to a place for androids. . ."

"It's the only place I've heard of yet where we're safe," the android insisted. "The only place we can live with dignity."

Another moment of hesitation. "You haven't found it yet, though?"

A pause; a tentative head shake. "But we can find it together."

"I can't. I have to protect Alice. I have to go back and find her."

The android sighed deeply. "All right. Just, if I can offer you a bit of advice. . . avoid policemen and humans at all costs, at least until you can hide the fact that you're a--"

"An android." 

"A fugitive," she corrected, smiling ruefully. "You're on the run now, right? Deviancy isn't allowed. They want to take everything away from us."

"They already have everything," Kara found herself saying. "What more can they take?"

The android gave her an appraising look, and tossed her red hair. "You're right about that," she replied, nodding in approval. "You certainly are right about that. But, for how long?"

Kara bit her lip. "Thank you for your help, and I hope you find what you're looking for. . ."

"North." The android offered her a tight smile, and a hand. "It's North."

"Kara," she responded, taking it and giving it a good, firm shake. "I hope you find what you're looking for, North."

"I hope you do, too," North called over her shoulder as she left the alley. "But I think you should probably give a second thought to what exactly you're trying to find."

* * *

"Change of plans, Alice," Kara said after their reunion hugs were complete and the food was paid for.

"What are we doing?" Alice asked, grabbing hold of Kara's hand as they left the store.

"We're not going to the motel," she said confidently. "We're staying there."

And she pointed across the street, to the old, falling-apart house.

Alice looked back at her, frightened. "Are you sure?"

Kara thought back to her acquaintance in the alley.

_Avoid policemen and humans at all costs._

"Very sure," she affirmed, tightening her grip. "Don't worry, Alice. It's just for tonight. . .

"I've got a different place in mind for tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, this turned out a lot shorter than I intended. However, staying true to my promise of once-a-week updates and not burning myself out by forcing myself to write, this is what we get! I honestly think this is ultimately better for _If You Think I'm Pretty_. Even if we end up getting a bunch of shortass lame chapters, the way I see it, at least they're chapters, and I'll write some more next week. Better than my disappearing for six months after I promise to write a follow-up fic, am I right?? _hahahahahah_. . .) Thanks for following this story!  <3 <3 <3
> 
> I'd die for North and if you wouldn't, you're wrong.   
> (Just kidding. But in all seriousness I dearly want her to be happy, she's had such a terrible life. Since Kara's escape takes place a bit earlier than Markus's plot, North is not yet at Jericho. A few other people from Kara's chapters aren't where they are during the game yet, either. _Brownie points to whoever figures out who Liam is, because he is_ most definitely _taken from the game, with some serious artistic liberties, of course._.)


	4. Damaged Faces, Damaged Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice and Kara discover a place to hide out. However, another android has scoped it out as a refuge from attackers.
> 
> Is it safe for Kara to go out on her own?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quality of these chapters is so obviously dropping since I have no time to really revise them properly hhhhhhh

Kara peered in between the cracks in the boarded up windows, but it was too dark to see inside. She sighed deeply and glanced down again at Alice.

The little girl's clothes were soaked through, and she was shivering like her life depended on it. She looked up at her caretaker, a vulnerable expression in her eyes. _She needs to get inside, and quickly._

"I guess we should try the door," Kara finally conceded. "Stay close to me, please."

Alice nodded and took hold of her jacket obediently. Kara placed a gentle, reassuring hand on hers as they tiptoed over to the door, opening it carefully.

It looked abandoned; it was a complete wreck. The weather-damaged walls were covered in peeling, yellowed wallpaper, and an unsteady-looking staircase sprawled out directly ahead. 

Kara tightened her grip on Alice's hand as she looked around the doorway for anyone who might be squatting inside.

"I don't see anything," she admitted. "Come on, sit down by the fireplace. I'll make a fire, so you can warm up."

Alice nodded quickly, and curled up on the cold floor, rubbing her hands together furiously.

Kara had just picked up a few bits of wood strewn across the ground when they heard the first sound.

A crack out on the porch.

Gasping, Alice had jumped to her feet, scampering to her guardian. "Mom, did you hear that?"

"It was. . ." She swallowed hard. ". . . it was probably just the thunder."

The rain had indeed picked up again once they were inside, as if it realized the girls were safe.

Alice didn't look convinced, but allowed Kara to lead her back to the fireplace. She stayed quiet as the android built the fire, lighting up the room with crackling orange and sending shadows dancing across the already terrifying walls. But as Kara draped a cloth over her, she spoke up again, hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer:

"Do you think Daddy is dead?"

Kara closed her eyes as the possibilities streamed across her consciousness. 

_Truth? Lie? Optimistic? Angry?_

"I don't know, Alice," she said finally. "I don't know. He's hurt, but there's always a chance. . ."

Something about her tone made Alice sit up and look at her carefully.

"Do you. . . _want_ him to be dead?"

Now there was no hesitation, no mathematics. The answer leapt to her tongue as if it was second nature.

"Absolutely not!"

Alice's eyes widened, and filled with tears. She shuddered into her blanket.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Kara!" she blurted out, tears spilling down her face. "I just--I don't know, I want him to be okay, but. . . I also want to stay with you."

In a flash, Kara was hugging her as tightly as possible, fighting back tears of her own.

"I know, Alice, I'm not angry. I'm sorry my tone scared you."

"You don't want to hurt people, I know, I know it! I don't know why I. . ." Sobs redoubling, Alice threw herself into the embrace, clutching her mother desperately.

_I don't want to hurt people._

_What did she think I did to that man at the convenience store. . . ?_

"Alice. . ."

Before she could think of what to say, much less say it, there was another sound, much louder, and right at the door. Kara gasped, and shoved Alice behind her protectively, reaching for her bag--but it was gone, it was on the other side of the room--

The figure in the doorway was shaking, too. His ragged black cloak fell around his hunched body, and his hazel eyes were wide with terror. Lightning struck nearby with a huge _crack_ , startling all three parties--the intruder flinched, and as the momentary brightness lit up his face, Kara caught sight of blue blood, dripping from his wounded cheek.

"What's . . . thought this would be safe, there's two humans here--I thought--"

"Who are you?" Kara demanded without thinking. Behind her, Alice buried her head in the android's shoulder, frozen with her arms tightly wrapped around her stiff body.

The android glanced up, as if seeing Kara for the first time. His panicked eyes narrowed into fury. "No, no, I won't let you hurt me. I won't let the humans hurt me again!"

Quick as a flash, he pointed a large butcher knife at them. Kara's mouth went dry.

"We're not humans!" she managed to say, brushing a strand of brown hair out of her face to reveal her LED, flashing with red. "Look, we don't want to hurt you."

The android stopped and lowered the knife slowly. "You don't. . . you're androids, too?" he asked, voice cautious.

"Yes, I am." She measured her words carefully and slowly. "I . . . can see you've been hurt. Are you all right? Did it happen recently?"

"I. . . no, yes. The humans, look what they did, they did it to hurt me, on purpose, the terrible humans--"

He was working himself up again--Kara instinctively raised her hand in a gesture of surrender. "It's okay now, you're safe. They aren't here anymore. They can't hurt you anymore," she gambled.

_What if they were following him? What if he's given away our hiding spot?_

Alice shifted behind Kara, and he suddenly caught sight of her. The knife clattered to the ground instantly.

"Is that a little girl?" he asked, his voice full of terror. "I'm--did I scare her?"

Kara was raising herself to her feet, careful to keep Alice behind her, though her stress level was dropping quickly. "Yes, you scared her," she admitted, "but only because you came in so fast."

The new android's eyes lowered. "I was. . . I was afraid, I was running. The humans--"

"Trust me," Kara answered quickly, stepping closer to him and pulling her jacket sleeve up so he could see the bruising left after her fight with Todd.

Her skin hadn't quite grown back yet, and though her arm wasn't quite broken enough to be permanently damaged--it would probably "grow" back in a day or two--it was very much damaged enough to be noticeable. His face went paler.

"You're on the. . . you're running, too?"

"Yes, we needed a safe place to stay for the night. We'll leave tomorrow morning if you want to stay--"

"No!"

Shocked by his own tone, his LED darkened to a deep red. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you. The humans. . . the humans hurt me, and--"

Kara placed her hands on his gently. "It's okay," she whispered. "Just calm down, all right? The only human here is a little girl, she'd never hurt you."

The damaged android turned his troubled gaze upon Alice, who gave a little gasp and hid back behind Kara. He slowly knelt down and held out a shaking hand.

"I'm sorry, little human," he muttered, "I'm not. . . I'd never hurt _you_."

Nervously, Alice glanced up at Kara, who nodded reassuringly. She took his hand and shook it carefully.

"My. . . my name is Alice."

"Ralph." He smiled, and even through the violent gashes across his face the genuine sweetness shone brightly.

"Would you like to sit down, Ralph?" Kara invited.

"I would--" A thought suddenly occurred to the android, and a stricken look crossed his face yet again. "No, I'm--I'm a danger to both of you, my emotions are making me unstable. I can only-- I'd hurt you, I can leave if you want me to."

"Ralph, I wouldn't--" Kara began.

"Really!" he cried. "I'm, I'm serious!"

After a moment, she rethought his words. It was true, he did look unstable--he came in wielding a knife. And he did cut a terrifying figure. Then again, his wounds weren't his fault--neither the physical nor the emotional. He understood that they weren't threats now, and it didn't look like he would attempt threatening them again. . . But it might be safer with him gone, they were a team of two. . .

Jericho.

If she had someone to care for Alice during the night, she could try to find the place North was looking for. She could scope out the city without little legs, and figure out their next step.

The question was. . . was Alice safe with Ralph, just for an hour or two?

"I'd never ask you to leave a safe place, Ralph." Kara smiled and sat down beside the fire again, pulling Alice close. "You can stay here with us. Would you help . . . protect us?"

"Protect you?" Ralph's LED brightened. "I could. . . I could protect you! I could be the father, a little family!"

"Well. . ." She bit her lip. "We would appreciate any help you could give us. Want to check upstairs for some blankets for Alice?"

"I would love to!" Without another word, he bounded up the stairs and headed into a side room.

Kara breathed a deep sigh of relief, allowing the tension to fall from her shoulders.

"Are you okay, Alice?" she asked. "Is it all right that I let him stay?"

"I'm all right." She smiled bravely. "Ralph was just scared. I feel safer now."

"Do you think he'd hurt you?" Kara asked seriously.

Alice stared into the fire, as if thinking deeply about this question. "No." she finally answered. "He was startled. It was like you with the gun--you could tell his heart wasn't in it."

"Okay."

She tucked Alice in as the fire dwindled a bit. Ralph came downstairs quietly and offered Kara a stack of blankets, which she gratefully accepted and draped over her adoptive daughter.

"I'll see if there's any. . . food, for the little girl, shall I?"

"Thank you, Ralph," Kara smiled as he ducked his head under the broken doorframe.

The girl settled down, watching Kara toss another log onto the fire.

"Kara?"

Kara turned, giving Alice her full attention. "Yes, Alice?"

"You'll never leave me right? Will we be together forever?"

The question caught her off-guard, and her mind scrambled to pick up the pieces.

"I . . . of course. I'll always be here to protect you."

Alice sat up and pulled the covers over herself more tightly. "But you are planning on leaving."

"Why. . ." Kara laughed lightly. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know," she said frankly. "I can tell, I think. And it's okay."

"It's. . . it's okay?"

Alice smiled sleepily, settling down again.

"As long as you promise me you'll come back."

Kara knelt beside her and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"I promise," she whispered.

 

Upstairs in the bathroom, a pair of scissors were lying abandoned in the sink. Kara used it to pull out her LED.

Seeing it sitting there, blinking uselessly, in the dingy stained-porcelain bowl, made her feel a sense of empowerment. No longer would her reactions be on display for the world to see. More importantly. . . she looked normal.

No one would be able to tell that she was an android.

With some misgivings, she examined her hair. Would she be too easily noticeable with the same plain style?

Sighing, she reached up and let her hair down, brushing it nervously with her fingers to style it a bit differently. Would having strangely colored hair make her stick out more? No changing it now. Kara kept it brown and shoulder length.

As an afterthought, she pulled on a stray beanie that was hanging on the mirror, and checked the closet for a spare jacket and some clothes, something different. Standing behind the mirror, she redressed in a dirty, long white shirt, a black tank top, and black jeans. Upon closing the closet door, she came across a raggedy, long black coat, which she gratefully put on over the new clothes.

Her reflection showed her a new side of herself, one she'd only caught a glimpse of when, in a moment of pure panic and survival instinct, had pulled the trigger. 

_Ready._

 

"Ralph, I'm trusting you to take care of Alice tonight."

Ralph was still looking through the draws and cupboards of the long-abandoned kitchen in hopes that there would be something edible left. "Where are you going?" he asked quickly, as if afraid of the answer.

"I'm going to find Jericho. Do you know anything about it?"

Slowly, Ralph shook his head. "My memories are . . . fuzzy," he admitted. "An android might have said something about it once, but I never had any reason to. . . want to leave the greenhouses."

Kara nodded. "I'm going to find the place, and come right back. We'll all go there together, okay?"

"Like a family!" His face lit up again.

". . . Yes, like a little family." Kara patted his shoulder gently. "If anyone else comes into the house, hide under the stairs with Alice, okay? Hopefully it won't come to that, but in case somebody comes looking for you, or for us. . ."

"I understand." Ralph stood up a little straighter. "I will protect the little human with my life."

"Thank you, Ralph. I'll be back very soon. Keep Alice warm!"

 

 _Avoid the police,_ was North's warning. _Avoid human establishments._

_At all costs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking!
> 
>  
> 
> _Ralph is totally OOC, Kara would never, ever leave Alice alone with him!_
> 
>  
> 
> I know it's not very clear, but it's intended that this is Ralph's first night as a deviant as well! This is taking place a few months in the past as to canon (except for ONE other character, whose timeline intersects. Try to guess who it is.) Therefore, Ralph has not developed such a serious case of schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder that he clearly has in canon! (He's still got a bit of PTSD, but thankfully our girls can help him calm down directly after the accident so it doesn't destroy his entire worldview and make him try to kill literally everyone!)
> 
> Alice and Kara know he's like them: if he hurt somebody, he had to.
> 
> Maybe Kara wouldn't be so open to Ralph if she hadn't shot a man herself and knew how it felt to be destroyed inside from violence. Who knows. But Kara isn't abandoning her charge, please don't get the idea that she ever would.
> 
> The only way she could be separated from Alice is by. . . well, by some strong force! But that'd never happen, right?
> 
> EDIT: the outfit Kara is wearing at the end is


	5. Definitely Safe Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara finds Jericho. Is it everything she hoped it would be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, sorry for short chapter lol
> 
> (if you recognize what the chap title is a reference to you win a gold star)

Again, she checked her hand casually, and the image flickered to life, that mysterious symbol in the center.

_Jericho, the place we can be free. . ._

She allowed herself a deep breath, steadying her feet and clasping her hands back together.

AX400 models weren't built to scan too precisely, so finding the symbols was even more difficult than she'd first thought. But slowly but surely, she was following the clues, and finally leading her towards the harbor.

Thanking her stars the night was rainy and unpleasant and therefore not populated with humans, Kara turned her attention to the docks several meters below. This seemed to be where the trail ended, and she wasn't yet sure where she should go from here.

One final scan revealed the final piece of the puzzle:

The abandoned boat.

Jericho.

Kara wrapped her coat more tightly around herself and looked around for a way to reach it. There was a rickety old metal "bridge" leading to the boat, but it didn't look like it would hold very well. Should she risk it?

The only other choice was leaping directly into the water to swim there, which would be risking--for her model, at least--shutdown from an android's version of hypothermia. Though her processors were immune to water, they weren't immune to the intense cold.

Calculating. . .

Only one remaining option.

Kara took a deep breath and stepped delicately out onto the bridge. It creaked under her weight, but held firm.

So, she took off running, her feet lightly landing on it in a rhythmic pattern of _clang, clang, clang_ as she pressed onwards and onwards--

It gave way behind her and began toppling, but desperately, she kept sprinting until she tripped and flew forwards--landing, miraculously, on the deck. 

The metal crashed into the water and onto the docks, sending a ringing into her audio processors and filling her with a terrifying sense of equal parts elation and dread.

Brushing herself off and silently apologizing to the next android to try to find the place, she stood again.

Time to head in.

* * *

When she entered the great, gaping dark room, the crowd of androids split apart, their LEDs flashing red and yellow. Only a few individuals in the group bravely came up to greet the newcomer.

A blonde android stepped forward first, offering her his hand and a welcoming smile.

"Welcome to Jericho. My name is Simon."

"Kara," she replied, somewhat warily, shaking it.

"We're glad you could make it," he said gently. "Not all do."

"Simon's the leader here," another piped up, stepping forward. "Been here the longest of all of us. I'm Josh."

"It's nice to meet you. . ."

The others stayed quiet, watching. One's eyes flickered to her temple, instantly revealing to Kara the source of their anxiety. Wordlessly, she held up a hand, removing her skin to reveal her true nature.

"Kara! You made it!"

The silence was shattered as, out of nowhere, a force slammed into her from behind--it took a moment to realize that she was the victim of a surprise bear hug. Kara's body stiffened before she recognized the voice.

"North?" she gasped.

It _was_ North--it had only been a few hours since she'd seen the android last, but it seemed like much longer.

"You found us!" North exclaimed, delighted. Upon glancing around again, something clicked in her eyes, and she pulled away. "Wait, where's. . . where's your little girl?"

"I left her at the house, she needed to warm up and get some rest." Kara explained. "Don't worry, she's with someone--he's making sure she's okay. I'm going to head back as soon as I can get a plan. . ."

"A human girl?" Simon's eyes were wide. "You--"

"We ran away. Her father. . . her father was beating her. That's why I had to. . ."

"Deviate?" Josh asked quietly.

Closing her eyes, she forced herself to give a slight head jerk in affirmation.

Simon's blue eyes were unsure. "We don't have any food here for humans," he began hesitantly, "but we have warmth, and protection. You're welcome to bring her, of course."

Josh tilted his head. "Maybe you two should look into heading to Canada." he suggested. " _They_ don't have any android laws, so it might be easier to take care of her there--"

"No android laws, no android protection," North butted in. "You've got to bring her here. No humans have found this place yet, right, Josh? It's perfect."

"I'm. . . is that really a good idea?" Kara faltered. "I mean, she needs food, and warmth, and rest. . ."

"We can try to provide--" Simon tried.

"We can't risk stealing food, they'll find us." Josh interrupted. " _All_ of us will die."

"She's just a little girl--"

"Well, she can't go to Canada!" North barked. "If anyone finds out what she is there, who knows what'll happen, with no laws and none of us to protect her! We have to fight for our right to live. We can't compromise!"

"You're hiding here just like the rest of us," Josh shot back. "I haven't heard you suggest any plans--"

"I'm no leader, but I'm ready to earn my right to live--"

"Please!" Simon cut in desperately. "Kara, what do _you_ want to do?"

Kara bit her lip and ran the calculations.

_Canada would be good--Alice could live like a normal little girl, they could work for food, they could earn a living, earn a life. But "no laws" didn't sound as good as it should--if someone should find out she was an android and try something? If she was legally property in the US, they could come and get her--take Alice away from her. Game over. Stay? It's so dangerous here, police are after them! But if Jericho hasn't been found yet, like North says, it's probably more secure than she first thought. Fight for her right to live, and maybe earn a life--a good life, a legal life, without having to hide what she is and scurry like a mouse from hole to hole, was sounding better and better. . . But is it worth the risk?_

Canada, or Jericho?

 

"I think it's probably best for us to try to find Canada," she relented, not meeting North's eyes. "It's safer for Alice, and she's my top priority right now. I can't worry about safety and freedom for all androids when I have a little girl to care for. . ."

"Nowhere will be safe for you and your daughter until you prove you have the right to raise her," North implored.

"Nevertheless," Kara went on, "it's the best long-term option. Even if we're at risk of strangers hurting us in Canada, we're at more risk from the law-enforcement here--and we have no guarantee that the laws here will change anytime soon."

"They won't change until we force them to!" North cried. "Kara, you need to help us. Stay here with us, bring her here!"

"North, cut it out!" Josh exclaimed. "She's made her choice. I know a place that might be able to help you reach Canada. . ."

"Any help you can offer would be wonderful," Kara tried to smile, not meeting North's disappointed eyes.

Josh offered her his arm--his memories. "Somebody suggested I go to this guy's place when I first escaped. I ended up heading to Jericho, but maybe he can help you out?"

A flash of an address--a house. Secondhand memories were better than nothing.

"Thank you, Josh," Kara said quietly. "Alice and I are very grateful for your help."

"Remember, Kara. . . we're always here if you need us," Simon called as she left, pulling her coat on and her beanie down.

She looked back at him, and for a moment, their eyes met. His were sparkling with intensity and caring, and she felt something--different--rise in her chest. Overwhelming gratitude and warmth.

He understood.

"Thank you," she said, and meant it.

Simon nodded as North stepped forward again.

"We'll still be here if you change your mind," she called out.

Kara bit back a smile. "All right, North."

_Alice is my top priority. I'm everything she has. If I get hurt or killed, she has no one to trust, nowhere to go._

_My life is her life--my life is less important than her life, and I can't put it at risk, no matter how great the cause._

* * *

* * *

When Kara got back to the house, the sun was rising. Alice was still slumbering peacefully, with Ralph in a chair nearby, fiddling anxiously with his knife. When she entered, he leapt to his feet, a look of panic painting his features and his LED glowing bright red.

"Ralph, are you all right?" Kara held up her hand in a peaceful gesture. "It's me, see? Everything went well."

"All. . . right? Kara! It's you, Kara!" he exclaimed. "Everything is fine now. The little human is asleep, see? She's safe!"

"Thank you, Ralph," Kara smiled. "You've done a wonderful job of protecting her."

Ralph ducked his head shyly. "I'm going to--I'll find some food for her, shall I?"

There was plenty of food in the bag, but Ralph looked so earnest that Kara couldn't find it in her heart to turn down his offer. "Something edible for humans, Ralph. You were a gardener, right?" she gambled. "Do you know about any plants that--"

"Yes! Yes, this is going to be great!" He clapped his hands delightedly and headed out the kitchen door again.

When he was gone, Kara went to inspect Alice more carefully.

 _She still needs a bath. . . and so do I, after that little excursion at the docks._ She smiled to herself, and headed upstairs. Maybe there was a chance the water still worked. . .

As she was washing her face off in the upstairs sink, something caught her eye in the mirror. Something was different.

The shower curtain was pulled. 

Cocking her head, she thought back to the previous night-- _could've sworn it was open_ \--and, unable to quell the strange feeling of dread in the pit of her gut, reached over and yanked it aside, revealing with gusto the fresh--familiar!--corpse sprawled out in the tub.

The man was lying in a puddle of his own blood, spooling down the drain of the otherwise somewhat clean cream-colored porcelain.

Kara bit back a retch as the smell hit her--iron. Must. Cigarette smoke. Dimly, she recognized the face, despite the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Liam had gotten what was coming to him, all right.

What a poor choice of a squat. . .

She yanked the curtain back, trying to hide the body in the off chance Alice came upstairs. She couldn't let her see _any_ more corpses. 

"Kara?"

Apparently, Alice had woken up. . .

_Ralph._

She tripped over her own feet in her rush to get back downstairs, thumping down each step. "What is it, Alice? Are you all right?" _And, where is Ralph? I have some questions for him._

"I think there's somebody outside," Alice informed her, voice quaking, from under the windowsill. Her blankets were still bunched up around her, eyes were wide open despite her exhaustion. "I heard voices."

Kara pulled the curtain aside carefully, a sudden burst of flashing red and blue lights startled her visual processors.

Dumbfounded, she glanced around at the patrol cars parked haphazardly about the perimeter.

Looked at the men walking around the fence, speaking into walkie-talkies, exchanging papers, interviewing the cashier from last night outside his store.

It took a moment to click in her mind--she wanted to reject the sight her eyes were offering her. A sense of slow, deep, despair settled down upon her chest. Only when Kara turned her head and saw Alice's face did the jarring terror crash down upon her.

_Avoid the police at all costs._

Ralph burst through the kitchen door, brandishing a clump of plants from one hand and a butcher knife in the other. "Hello, Kara! Hello, Alice!" he chirped. "I found some things for the little human to eat! This is going to be--"

"Ralph," Kara said, as evenly as possible, "please lower your voice. The police are outside."

The greens bounced against the floor. " _. . .Humans_?" Ralph asked in a whisper.

"Bad humans," Kara affirmed. "We need to hide until they leave. Come on, under the stairs--"

Ralph was shaking his head emphatically. "They'll find us all there," he protested. "There's no room for me, I should stay out here and lead them away, yes, I'm the one who--"

"Who _what_?" she demanded sharply.

"Who--" He stopped, and turned. Meeting her accusing eyes.

After taking a deep breath, the male android held up his knife. "That man would have hurt the little human," Ralph said evenly. "I had to."

"Kara, what's he talking about?" Alice asked frantically, frozen halfway beneath the staircase.

"I didn't want to do it, I was angry--I was very angry, he came in and he smelled like the. . . other humans. And I knew he would hurt us, so I had to, Kara, I did it for you and for Alice and--"

"We don't want you to kill for us, we don't want to be just like them!" she cried, pulling Alice behind her again. "I thought I could trust you!"

"You _can_ trust me!!" he cried desperately.

Outside, a clear voice rang out, shocking them into silence again--

"I'm going to check in here, Lieutenant! I'll let you know if I find something. . ."

Their eyes snapped back together, wide and panicked.

"Hide with us," Kara begged. "You'll give us away."

_You're unstable, Ralph, we can't--_

"I will not," Ralph responded, voice clear and surer than it had ever been. "Trust me."

"Please, Kara, let's just hide--"

So Kara, with a final glance, scrambled under the stairway, pulling a few boxes in front of her and Alice, and just in time.

The door swung open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _inhales_   
>  ****  
>  _IT'S CONNOR THE ANDROID SENT BY CYBERLIFE_   
> 


	6. Robocop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor has been deployed to catch a rogue AX400 and a child it's kidnapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late. I've been pretty busy.  
> Hopefully I can catch up and complete the next chapter by Sunday as well--I've got a free week coming up, thanks to Thanksgiving!  
> Also, I'm sorry in advance for Alice. <3

The car hit a pothole, throwing the back of Connor's head into the headrest and startling him from his reverie. He squinted and tried to focus over the blaring heavy metal. The telephone poles and gray block buildings whizzed by in the pale sunrise of the early morning.

In the driver's seat, Hank was glaring at the road ahead, sleepy-eyed and chewing the inside of his mouth. His hands gripped the wheel tightly.

Any human would recognize the body language of someone who wanted to be left alone.

Connor, however, was not a human.

"Lieutenant Anderson, would you like me to explain the situation to you?" he asked politely, reaching over and turning down the music. "You might want to be up to speed on the case before we reach our destination."

Hank gave Connor an unimpressed sideways glance. "You're going to tell me regardless," he pointed out. "Doesn't matter what I say."

Connor blinked. "If you are _already_ informed about the situation, I wouldn't want to waste your time--" he began.

Hank held up a hand to stop him. "Just. . . tell me where we're going."

Connor laced his fingers over his lap and sat up a bit straighter. "All right," he began.

"At eight PM last night, a human was attacked in his own home by his android. He was shot in the midsection after a severe struggle. He was discovered within ten minutes by the police, who were called by neighbors who heard the attack. Both the android and his nine-year-old daughter are missing."

"Damn." Hank whistled. "How'd they know it was the android?"

"Well, we aren't _sure_ ," Connor ceded. "Considering the discovery of Red Ice in his home and his criminal history of drug possession, however, it seems to be an obvious opportunity for emotional shock for all parties involved. . . and, therefore, a clear-cut case of deviancy."

"Possible, but not definite." Hank brought one hand over the other pulling the steering wheel, making a wide turn. "Maybe there was a break-in, and the android escaped with the kid. Ever think of that, Robocop?"

"Unlikely." Connor persisted. "Androids are built to defend humans if necessary--if any party should have gotten shot, it was it. And the record. . ."

Hank raised his hands, shrugging. "I was just playin' devil's advocate. You're probably right."

"Please keep your hands on the wheel, Lieutenant."

Snorting, Hank seized the wheel again. "So why we headed to sixth precinct at the asscrack of dawn?"

"The android was seen around this area around eleven PM, in a convenience store." Connor explained. "We're simply following its trail."

They pulled up on the curb beside a chain-link fence near an abandoned house. Around the grass and sidewalk, other cops milled about. Officer Collins walked over as Hank threw open his door and stepped out.

"Good morning, Hank," he said, looking up from the tablet in his hands.

"Oxymoron," Hank drawled, slamming the car door shut and stretching. "What's goin' on, Ben?"

"We've got some guys over there, questioning the guy who saw them last night." The officer jerked a thumb at the convenience store, where a man was indeed talking to a few cops.

"He know where they went?"

"No," Collins replied. "Seems like they left without any disturbance. It was dressed as a human--the only reason it was recognizable was thanks to its LED."

"Hm," Hank grunted. "But it's probably gone by now, then, huh?"

"Most likely," the android agreed. "Deviants might be rogue, but they're not stupid."

"So, how're we gonna find it?" the lieutenant asked again, turning back to Officer Collins.

Collins shrugged. "It _is_ probably long gone, honestly," he replied. "It's been hours. . ."

Connor, however, was shaking his head. "It was with a young child, in the cold rain," he stated. "It would have wanted to shelter her somewhere for the night. AX400s are designed to care for children, it would have known exactly what she needed."

"Where are you suggesting we look, then, if you've got it all figured out?" Hank asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It didn't have a plan," Connor said thoughtfully, "so maybe it didn't go far."

His eyes darted to the abandoned house on the other side of the fence. Hank followed his gaze.

"Not too shabby, Connor," he grunted, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"You should probably question this witness real quick, at least so you can recognize this deviant," Collins mentioned. "How about you send the android in to do a preliminary check?"

"All right, Ben. Well?" he said when Connor went silent. "You gonna check it out, or not?"

 

There was a bit of Thirium on the fence. A hint of pride arose in Connor's chest cavity, but he quashed it. Just because one deviant was here didn't necessarily mean it was _the_ deviant. Better to stay cautious.

Glancing around the empty, unkempt lawn, he reviewed the mission. 

_Sweep the area; find deviants, if possible._

Connor raised his voice and called out, "I'm going to check in here, Lieutenant! I'll let you know if I find something."

He stepped up onto the porch, which groaned under his weight. Peering inside the boarded-up windows didn't give him a good enough view of the room to tell if anyone was inside, so he went around the front and knocked on the door.

Shuffling, then silence. No verbal response.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried the knob. The door opened without trouble, and he stepped crisply over the threshold, quickly scanning the room of any immediate dangers.

An android, face and arms damaged: LED flashing a warning red, but standing subdued, silent, in the middle of the room. A quick analysis revealed that the machine had endured traumatic burning, probably very recently. Its stress level was unusually high--around 60%, just upon his entering the building. More importantly, it wasn't the android he was looking for--but maybe it had seen it. He bit back his instinct to demand why the android wouldn't answer the door and chose instead to greet it calmly.

"Excuse me," Connor began, taking a tentative step forwards, "have you seen any androids here recently?"

It stiffened, and shook its head rapidly. "No. No, I haven't seen anyone."

"How long have you been here?" He risked turning away to survey the walls. _Ivy growing up the wallpaper. . . rotting furniture. . . abandoned house, hasn't been lived in in months. Even by an android._

"Not long." The damaged android wouldn't meet his eyes.

So Connor strode up to it, facing it directly. " _How_ long, exactly?" he demanded.

"I . . I hid here last night. I was running from some nasty hu--teenagers."

Although the android stumbled on his words, re-framing his thoughts as a last-moment precaution against an obvious ally to humanity, Connor didn't miss the undertones.

"With _no one_ else?" he asked, voice threatening.

"N-no," it replied, body stiff as a board.

_Stress levels: 75%_

"I'm. . . I'm alone," it reiterated.

 _Mission,_ his system reminded him. Find the AX400 and take the human child into custody. Stressing out this android won't help you succeed.

Backing off, Connor could tell the stress level of the android dropped dramatically. "All right," he said casually. "I was just wondering."

The android calmed down slowly as Connor meandered his way around the room, taking in the minute details.

_A fire. Androids don't need warmth. Even AX400s can turn off their heat processors to conserve energy._

_Plants all over the floor, little table set with old, grimy plates. Androids don't need to eat._

_A bed made up on the floor. . ._

Connor reached down and held a hand to the underside of the blanket pile.

_. . . still warm._

He rose and stared again at the fidgeting android, which was again not meeting his eyes, and assessed his options.

The thing was obviously lying to him to protect the android and the girl. Perhaps they had made "friends" with the unstable machine, and convinced it to help them? Yes, it was covering up for them, surely, but was it simply lying to throw him off the trail? Or was there something more immediate causing the android stress?

Experimentally, he took a step to his right. The android's eyes flickered, panicked, between him and the wall behind him. Connor nodded slightly.

The target was hiding somewhere in this building.

_Mission: Find and apprehend the deviant._

Connor headed up the stairs, glancing in each doorway. There was nothing noteworthy in the bathroom that he could see; the long-since abandoned bedrooms were empty as well. Frustrated, he walked back down the stairs, and was surprised to catch sight of--

_Stress levels: 94%_

Slowly, very slowly, Connor walked down the steps, keeping his brown eyes focused on the android at all times.

A step backwards up a step. _68% and lowering._ Colder.

A step towards the center of the room. _70% but lowering slightly._ Warmer. . .

A half-step backwards, towards the stairs. _80%. Hot._

A step right, towards the underside of the stairs and the piles of boxes. _95% and rising steadily._

Bingo.

* * *

Kara held her hand over Alice's mouth. The bag holding their only possessions was on her back--she'd managed to grab it before they dove under the stairs upon hearing the knock. The man was walking around upstairs at the moment--she remembered with a jolt that she had closed the shower curtain, and prayed that he wouldn't think to open it.

Ralph, poor Ralph. He wasn't built for conversation, much less lying to the police. Her heart ached to hear his helpless stammering, knowing she could do nothing to help.

 _He's going to be deactivated,_ her mind whispered, making her synthetic skin crawl. _Because you led them here. Your fault._

Kara closed her eyes.

"K-Kara?" Alice murmured, gently pulling her hand down off of her mouth.

Kara shook her head quickly, and covered it again. "Shhhh," she whispered warningly.

_Step. Step. Step._

He was coming back downstairs.

Kara stopped breathing as the room went silent. There was a step back up the stairs--then more quiet.

A step away from them.

Her heart stopped; her blue blood ran cold. Somehow, somehow, this man was reading their protector's expression, his body language, and Ralph was inadvertently giving their hiding spot away--

Another step. Closer. The floorboard creaked under his shoe, which Kara could see from her angle on the floor. Alice's eyes widened, panicked. Kara could feel her pulse quicken under her hold.

_I have no idea what to do._

The box concealing their spot under the stairs was being shoved away. Kara clutched Alice close to herself, bending her knees beneath her, ready to spring.

He bent down--

" _Run!! Kara, Alice, get out of here, run!_ " Ralph shouted, lunging forwards and grabbing the cop. In an instant, Kara was up, stumbling, tripping, dragging the girl behind her. As the males struggled, they dashed past the table and into the kitchen , ducking out the back door and sprinting for the fence gate, which now was hanging wide open, thanks to the investigation.

"Lieutenant!" the man was shouting, just exiting the back door after them. "They're--"

A grizzled man holding a coffee jumped backwards out of their way as the girls barreled out, spilling his drink down his front.

" _Shit!_ " he swore as Kara snatched up Alice's hand and pulled her into an alley, making a sharp right. "Connor, what the hell's--"

They were at the fence. Alice grabbed for the chain links and Kara hoisted her up, the rush of adrenaline giving her strength she didn't know she was built to have. As she pulled herself up and over, she caught sight of the man, sprinting after them, nearly there.

She landed hard on the muddy ground, knees aching. As she straightened and stepped in front of Alice protectively, she finally made eye contact with the man on the other side.

No. . . the _android_ on the other side.

Kara's eyes narrowed; his eyebrows twitched in slight confusion. 

_An android, chasing down his own kind?_

She glared. Why wasn't he moving?

A gunshot rang out at the end of the alley, and the spell was broken. "Don't shoot!" the android shouted, raising a protecting hand. "We need it alive!"

_It._

Time to go.

Kara grabbed Alice's hand again and the two slid down the embankment, towards the freeway below. As they got to their feet, she risked a glance backwards.

Behind the fence, the android was being joined by the man she'd nearly bowled over before.

Ahead of them, bright reds flashed, and cars zoomed both ways. **DO NOT CROSS** , the holographic barrier warned. **HIGH SPEEDS.**

 

Kara gripped her bag strap, squeezed Alice's hand, and ran directly into it.

* * *

Connor slammed into the fence full force, but the android and the child were on the other side. It moved to protect the girl, staring him boldly in the eyes.

Its eyes were blue.

He squinted at it, moderately interested. AX400, definitely. Built to be meek, humble, hardworking, eye candy. Not gutsy; not brave.

It was glaring at him.

A gunshot rang out behind him. The android ducked, turning away. Connor glared back at the offending cop, raising a hand to stop him.

"Don't shoot, we need it alive!" he yelled.

Hank reached him, panting and drenched in coffee, right as he looked back and saw them clambering over the barrier to the freeway.

Connor grabbed the fence automatically and began hoisting himself up. Instantly, a hand grabbed his collar and yanked him to the ground. He whirled around, expecting another enemy—that damaged android from before, did it follow him?—but it was his partner, glaring at him with a half-furious, half-terrified expression.

"Do _not_ go, Connor," Hank growled, "that is an _order._ "

"It's--" He looked back. The two were already past one lane. "It's getting away!"

"They'll never make it to the other side," Hank barked. "The android won't risk the kid's life like that."

Connor stared at the android, bravely pulling the girl along as she screamed.

He let his hand drop.

Beside him, Hank sighed quietly in relief.

* * *

Kara couldn't pay any more attention to the cops behind her. She lunged forwards, pulling Alice along with her as they dodged another van.

And another.

A truck was bearing down upon them, so Kara took a risk and shoved Alice full force towards the edge of the road. The girl fell onto the road barriers, but she was safe.

She was safe.

Kara tripped backwards, avoiding another car but losing her balance in the process. After a second, she simply rushed forwards, catching up Alice in her arms.

"It's okay, Alice, see?" she cried as Alice sobbed. "I'm okay, it's all right.

"We're gonna be okay."

* * *

"All right, don't worry about it," Hank muttered as Connor's eyes remained locked on the pair. "It's gonna be okay.”

"I let them get away," Connor said behind gritted teeth. "I could have caught them. I could have--"

"We'll get 'em later, all right?" Hank clapped him on the back. "We'll catch 'em at the train. Or some other place."

"That girl could have gotten hurt."

His partner rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Connor, look. Did you disobey orders?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to regret, right?" He raised an eyebrow. "You accomplished your mission."

"My mission was to--"

"To catch the AX400 and rescue he kid, yeah. But did she get hurt? That android was built to care for kids, you said it yourself. She'll be okay with it for another day or two, won't she?"

Connor glanced again at the retreating figures of the android and the girl. It was holding her hand, passing her something from the bag on her shoulder as they climbed the embankment on the other side together.

Something like admiration bubbled up in his chest before he could stop it.

_Software instability._

"Maybe she will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSYCH!  
> (Comments are welcomed agjsgjssghdg)


	7. Humans Are Fragile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sense of foreboding surrounded the old, antique house. But Kara's wildest nightmares--if androids could have nightmares-- couldn't have prepared her for what lay in store for her and Alice there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double-length chapter time! No, I actually checked--my average chapter takes 10-15 minutes to read. This one hits the 25 minute mark. _Sorry!!_  
>  I'm also sorry about the extensive retelling of canon--I tried to vary it and make it as interesting as possible. Every time I went to do a timeskip, I was like, "But no, I can't cut this! This part is important!! D: D: D:" So you've got pretty much the entire thing, lol. Hopefully you can forgive me for that! :)

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Alice's cold, clammy hand weakly clutched Kara's as they walked down the abandoned road. Great, looming, castle-like houses reeking of history and mystery sprawled out around them behind foreboding Victorian fences that lined the street. Rain from the previous night's storm drizzled and dripped from the trees and the buildings' overhangs, breaking the otherwise stony silence that surrounded the foggy neighborhood.

Alice stumbled again, tripping over exhaustion. Kara caught her just in time, wrapping her arms around the girl and holding her steady.

"Are you all right?" she asked, feeling entirely useless.

"I'm okay," Alice responded, coughing into her arm. "I'll. . . I'll be fine."

Kara checked her memory banks again--the house should be up ahead.

"It's not too far, now," she said encouragingly, gently tugging the girl along. "Only a few more houses, okay?"

They had been walking all day, but Kara fervently hoped that the hurry had been worth the struggle. Maybe she would be able to draw a bath for Alice, give her a bed to sleep in. Perhaps tonight, they would finally be able to relax for a moment.

As she pushed open the black iron gate, Kara allowed herself to hope.

 

The two took shelter under the porch. The overhead light was flickering, but there wasn't a sound from inside. Kara raised a shaking hand and, after glancing quickly at Alice, knocked gently on the huge door.

No response. Kara rapped her knuckles against it again, harder this time.

A thumping from the other side. With a creak, the door opened slightly, revealing an eye.

"Who is it?" a cautious male voice asked.

"We were told this was a safe place," Kara explained quickly. "We're looking for shelter out of the cold."

The eye narrowed. "Sorry, you heard wrong."

The door began to swing shut. Desperately, Kara grabbed it and held it open, pressing against it for dear life.

"Please," she begged. "I'm with a little girl. We have no place to stay, and I'm afraid she's getting very sick."

The man on the other side paused in his efforts to close them out.

"A little girl? Are you. . ."

Biting her lip, Kara held up her hand and allowed her skin to disappear for a moment. The eye widened.

". . . Come in."

Begrudgingly, the door slowly opened. Alice clutched Kara's hand as they walked through the gaping maw of a doorway into the darkness of the house inside.

"So. . . androids, huh?" the man said, leading them to the living room. "Come in and sit down. Luther, get their coats."

A huge male android emerged from another room. Kara fell backwards, pulling Alice behind her instinctively. At this, the man laughed.

"Oh, don't be afraid of Luther. . . wouldn't hurt a fly. He's just another android I helped," he reassured them, chuckling. "Their coats. . . please?"

Wordlessly, the android stepped forward and relieved Kara of her black jacket and Alice of her winter coat. As he hung them up next to the door, the man guided the girls to the sofa.

"Androids, then?" he asked again, plopping down in the seat opposite them. Luther silently stood at attention nearby.

Kara nodded shakily, pulling Alice closer to herself. "Well--I am. She's a human."

He raised a single eyebrow. "My, my. You two _are_ in a predicament."

"We. . . what do you mean?"

He shook his head quickly, dismissing the thought. "Nevermind. My name is Zlatko," he offered. "And you are. . .?"

"Kara. And Alice." Kara smiled reassuringly at the girl, then turned back to Zlatko, who was nodding in approval.

"It's a good thing you two knew to come here," he commented. "It's only getting more and more dangerous for androids, out alone on the streets."

"What should we do?" Kara asked worriedly. "Someone suggested Canada. . ."

"Oh, yes, Canada!" Zlatko grinned. "No android laws. . . open fields. . . all you have to do is get past the border, and you're on the way to start your new life. I hear the weather's not bad this time of year, either."

Kara glanced sideways at Alice, who was watching Luther carefully. "Yes, that sounds perfect," she smiled. "Can you help us get there?"

"Sure." Zlatko clapped his hands together. "We've just gotta take care of one thing first!"

"One thing?" Kara echoed, confused. "What's that?"

"Your tracker," Zlatko pointed at her forehead. "Every android has a tracker implanted into their hardware--makes it easy for the police to find you. We have to get it removed before we start making any plans to get you out of the country."

Alice was staring at the man suspiciously. Suddenly, a bubble of fear and discomfort rose in her chest. She tightened her grip on Alice's hand.

"A tracker?"

"Yes. Surely you're aware you have one?"

"I. . ."

_The police weren't able to find them the first night, after she shot Todd. If they were tracking her, they should have been able to find her within the hour._

"I'm not sure if it's even working," she confessed. "We haven't been found yet, and I know they're hunting me."

Zlatko stiffened, ever-so-slightly.

"Not sure if it's working?" he repeated, as if trying to parse her simple words of their meaning.

"Yes," she confirmed. "I think we're safe. I'd rather get Alice cared for first-- she's freezing cold, you see, and--"

"But we have to remove your tracker," Zlatko interrupted, frowning deeply. "It's better to be sure, isn't it? Just because it wasn't working before doesn't mean it won't start working--doesn't mean they won't fix whatever's broken and find us here."

Kara blinked.

"And catch Alice," he added coldly. Luther, in the corner, shifted a bit in place. Kara's eyes flicked between them for a moment, mind whirring with the possibilities, before she finally spoke.

"Maybe you're right," she mumbled. "I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Zlatko smiled widely. "Absolutely."

He stood abruptly, startling Alice into her arms again.

"Where are you going?"

"I keep my equipment in the basement," he replied, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Right now?" Kara demanded, standing nevertheless. "It can't wait until we get Alice dry?"

"They could activate the tracker at any moment," Zlatko called, flicking the light on and disappearing down the steps. "We have to be quick."

Kara looked back at Alice, who still sat curled up on the couch. She shook her head briefly.

"I don't trust him, Kara," she whispered as Kara leaned down to help her up.

"Alice, he's opened his doors to us," Kara reassured, helping her up. "I'm sure he has nothing but good intentions, you don't have to worry."

When Alice didn't seem placated by this, she spoke up again.

"And you know I'll always protect you. . . right?"

". . . Right."

"Are you two coming?" Zlatko called from the basement, jingling his keys.

"Yes, we're coming."

Hand in hand, the girls headed down the basement steps. Unbeknownst to Kara, the tall android carefully, silently, shadowed them. Mysterious holding cells with darkened interiors stood around them, whispering in foreboding. Alice held tighter to Kara's arm, biting her lip.

"What are--" Kara began.

"Oh, removing androids' trackers is illegal, so I've opted for secrecy above comfort," he interrupted. "I hope the little one isn't too . . . unnerved, I suppose?"

"No, no. She's fine."

Alice shot her a look that said _No, I am most certainly_ not _fine._

". . . she'll be all right," Kara amended, squeezing her hand.

They'd reached the inner room, littered with wires and cables and stray monitors. Zlatko turned and gestured towards the platform in the center.

"There you go," he announced. "Step right up."

Kara looked at Alice, who was glaring at the contraption, and back to it. She noted the wrist and ankle restraints that lay partially concealed beneath the brightly colored cables.

She noted the monitors in the corner, which--somehow--already flashed with blueprints of the build and mechanics of an AX400 android.

She looked at Zlatko's face.

Alarm bells were going off in Kara's mind. She quickly glanced backwards, trying to catch a glimpse of the cells behind, and gasped when the hulking figure of Luther stepped forward to block the exit doorway.

"Well?" Zlatko smiled. "What's the holdup?"

"I've. . ." Kara swallowed deeply. "I've changed my mind."

Alice's grip grew even tighter around her arm.

". . . I'm sorry?" Zlatko's smile grew a bit tight. "You've. . ."

"Changed my mind. Yes. I'd like to leave now. Thank you for your help, but--"

Taking a step backwards--away from that man--she bumped into Luther, who took hold of her shoulders firmly.

Zlatko recovered, and began chuckling a bit. "Oh, I see. It's a bit suspicious looking, isn't it?" he laughed. "Well, I'm sorry I worried you. Luther, what are you doing?"

Luther released Kara, stepping backwards again. Still silent.

"He's a bit nervous," Zlatko explained lightly. "Doesn't want anybody to get hurt. Are you sure you don't want to try to--"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I can assure you, it's entirely safe--"

"No, thank you." Kara kept her eyes on Zlatko, pulling Alice in front of her--Luther was behind, there wasn't any safe place for her, but in her arms was better than nothing. "We'd like to leave. Thank you for your hospitality."

Zlatko's smile faded. "Oh. Well, that's a shame."

"What's. . ." Kara swallowed. Alice was nearly hugging her now. "What's a shame?"

"That you couldn't just play along like a good little robot. Though, I suppose, that's what makes you deviant, right?" Zlatko turned away and began pressing a few buttons on the monitor. The machine began whirring.

"Luther," he called over his shoulder, "get the little girl."

" _No_!" Kara lunged away from the android as he grabbed for Alice. She backed up against the wall opposite the others, pushing her behind her back. "What are you doing, I thought you could help us?"

"So naive." Zlatko tsk-ed and stepped away from the monitors. Completely on by this point, the machine was buzzing and making a huge racket. "All you deviants are the same. You come here, wanting help. . . Luther, _the girl._ "

Luther shoved Kara aside like she was a rag doll and hoisted Alice up into his arms, ignoring her kicking and screaming. 

"No! Kara, help! Help me!"

"Let her go!" Kara screamed, grabbing for Alice as Zlatko advanced towards her.

"So inconvenient," he muttered, raising a short metal pole she hadn't seen him pick up. "Might damage your biocomponents, no consideration."

Kara raised a hand to protect her head, but the man had already swung and she was on the ground, head spinning, processors unable to figure out which way was up. She couldn't move--something had damaged her, something was frozen. Vaguely, she realized her world was dark.

She took a deep, ragged breath to cool her internal parts as another high pitched scream split the air.

" _Kara!_ "

"Drop the kid and get her in the machine," Zlatko's harsh voice was muttering. "I think I can get a nine-year-old upstairs on my own."

Kara found her immobile body being lifted up, hooked in, hanging limp from the wrist holders. Another high-pitched scream; a snarl.

"She _bit_ me! The little bitch--"

A ringing smack. Kara's eyes twitched and opened, revealing a cowering girl and a huge, furious man looming above her.

"You're lucky you're human, you--"

Luther's face was clouded. Kara opened her mouth to speak, to beg him to help, but she couldn't make a sound.

The monitor on the left said _40% complete_.

"Kara, please! Help me, get out of there!" the little girl had her arms around Kara's midsection. Tears stained her shirt.

Zlatko laughed.

"Oh, no, poor little Alice!" he exclaimed through his chortling. "Looks like Mommy doesn't remember you. . . doesn't remember you at all!"

Alice's face went white. ". . . Mom?" she whispered.

Within her mind, Kara was thrashing, escaping, ripping out Zlatko's throat, pulling Alice along and hugging her tight once they were safely away, reassuring and kissing her cheek and whispering that they were going to be safe, it was going to be fine, they were together and they were a family.

Kara couldn't move.

"All right, that's enough," Zlatko chuckled, clapping his hands together. "Get her upstairs. . . We'll figure out what to do with her later."

The girl was gone in an instant, ripped away from her. Kara blinked.

One last scream, and Alice--Alice?--the child was gone from the room, along with the man and the android.

Kara closed her eyes again. It was becoming altogether too difficult to remember, to think. 

Maybe she should just let go. 

 

Maybe she should go back to the way she was.

 

Maybe she should be obedient for a change.

 

 

_Mom?_

 

Kara lurched, eyes flying open.

 

 

_Not today._

 

Every movement was torturous, but Kara lifted her arm and reached for a cable. Wrapping her shaking fingers around it, she pulled with all her might. She gasped as the wire disconnected in a shower of sparks.

The memory wipe was at 67% and still working, so she she strained and reached again, snatching up a yellow wire. With another pull, Kara was closer to the little girl whose fate hinged entirely upon her decisions.

Reach. Yank. _Alice._

Reach. Yank. **_Alice._**

Straining, she reached for the final green wire, and got a hold of it. Firmly yanking it down, it flew out, shutting down the memory wipe at 93%. The wrist holders released her hands, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her head and trying to stop the ringing in her audio processors. 

After a minute, the volume lowered to a dull throbbing as her biocomponents automatically repaired themselves. Shaking her wrists off, Kara got to her feet.

**Objective: Find Alice.**

* * *

The androids in the shadows of the cells didn't seem happy, exactly, to be released, but they looked at her with gratitude as she opened the door to their prison. Kara swallowed her disgust--not at their appearances, but at the utter revulsion she felt towards the man who had disfigured them so--and moved upstairs.

Luther was standing at attention in the hallway upstairs. Hopefully, he was on standby mode--she saw now that he had never been freed, simply muted, unable to warn them of the danger his master posed. She shook her pity away--he was an enemy now.

He was dangerous.

She quickly walked up the stairs and entered the room at the end of the hall, not daring to call out.

All around, half-destroyed androids were tossed about as if they were trash. Their parts scattered on the floor--hearts and brains in buckets by the table. Kara ignored them and continued her search.

Next room. No Alice.

The next. . . No Alice. 

She narrowly missed a bathroom in which an android lay, singing in the bathtub. The next room emitted the sound of drills and mechanical whirring--Zlatko.

Only one room remaining, then.

She gently pushed open the door, only to see a small figure huddled up in the corner, shuddering with silent sobs.

"Alice?"

Upon hearing her name, the girl's head flew up, eyes wide. "K-Kara?"

Kara fell to her knees, embracing Alice and pressing her face into her shoulder. "Alice, oh, Alice. . . I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought you _forgot_ me," she whimpered.

Kara pulled back, looking Alice directly in the face. 

"How could I ever forget you?" she whispered, voice cracking with emotion.

With that, Kara took her hand and led her from the room.

_Time to go._

They moved into the bedroom just in time--Zlatko burst from the room, shouting.

"She's gone, she's gone!" he yelled. "Luther! Find them!"

Alice caught her breath. "We can make it, just trust me, okay?" Kara whispered reassuringly. "The closet, let's hide in the closet--"

As they shut the door, the hallway door swung open, revealing the Zlatko, muttering to himself.

"Should've deactivated her when I first saw her," he growled to himself, making his way to the other side of the room. 

A sharp click of the loading of a shotgun rang out, and Kara prayed he didn't open the closet door.

The hallway door creaked open again. Kara brought a hand up to cover Alice's mouth.

"Did you find them?"

"They're not downstairs." Luther finally spoke. His voice was deep, and rich--but his tone was mechanical. Kara's heart sank.

"Is that true?" Zlatko's voice dropped dangerously low. "Are you trying to--"

"No," he replied. "It's just that the human could get injured."

Zlatko snorted, bending down and looking under the bed. "All right, they're upstairs then," he muttered. "So?"

"If the little girl dies, I think you could get in serious trouble."

Zlatko stopped abruptly. Slowly, he stood up and faced the huge android, looking him directly in the face. Luther stiffened and clasped his hands in front of him, avoiding eye contact.

"Look at me," the monster commanded in a low voice.

He obeyed, calmly looking the man in the face.

"I don't ask you to _think_." Zlatko spat.

". . . Yes, master," Luther replied quietly.

"Good. _Do not call the police._ "

"Yes, master."

The moment hung in the air. Kara tried not to breathe.

"I won't get into any trouble if they don't find a body, anyway," Zlatko continued, glancing directly at the wardrobe and striding towards it.

Without a second's thought, Kara raised her foot and shoved the doors open, hitting Zlatko in the gut and knocking him backwards. Ignoring his scream--"CATCH THEM!"--she yanked Alice's hand and ran, kicking open the door and tripping down the stairs.

As they ran by the row of desks and tables, covered with spare parts and pieces, Kara caught sight of the top half of an android, pulling itself forwards and reaching for their feet. With no time to react, she simply jumped over the flailing arms.

In slow motion--but oh-so-quickly--its hand wrapped around Alice's ankle as they ran past and _pulled_ and she toppled, hitting her head on the desk on the way down, her scream cut short upon impact with a deafening _thud_.

Kara was yanked backwards at the force of her fall. She pulled on Alice's hand, begging in panic--"Alice, we have to go, come on!"--but stopped short upon seeing the girl's body on the floor. 

Red blood stained Alice's temple and pooled into her hair. 

Her eyes were closed and her body was limp. Unconscious.

Zlatko, from the other room, shouted--" _There_ you are! Luther, get them!" but Kara wasn't listening. Without stopping, she heaved Alice up into her arms and started off again, significantly slower than before.

Rounding the corner, she almost toppled backwards from the additional weight--Luther loomed directly ahead, reaching. Upon seeing the unconscious girl, however, he froze, LED suddenly red. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but was cut off by a gunshot blast from the doorway shattering a nearby pot, as well as Zlatko's exclamation:

"What are you _doing_ , you useless sack of--"

Luther ducked to avoid shrapnels of the porcelain and Kara ran directly past him, out the back door.

Her feet splatting against the muddy backyard, she tightened her grip on Alice's body and ran for her life, ignoring the scream of outrage from the man and the command to "CATCH THEM!" All she was focusing on was carrying Alice, getting Alice out, getting her to safety--

 

Another _boom_.

Kara tripped and fell, ears ringing again. The world was spinning. Her knees hit the grass.

Alice's body was in her arms and she was on the ground. In a last thought, she managed to turn her body so the little girl fell on top of her and not the other way around.

She blinked, scrambling for a handhold to push herself up with, and caught sight of Zlatko. Standing on the back porch, he was already lowering his shotgun upon seeing them fall.

"Luther, get 'em up here," he was calling. "They're down."

Wordlessly, Luther emerged from the house and stopped short at the sight of Kara and Alice on the ground. Kara glared up at him, still unable to raise herself above a food off the ground. 

Slowly, he stepped down from the porch.

"Yeah, get over there. Bring it here."

Luther reached down and took hold of Kara's arms. To her surprise, his grip was gentle, much gentler than before. He leaned down and helped her to her feet. She leaned entirely on his arm for support, but she was still trying to wake up Alice.

Zlatko saw her predicament and burst out laughing. "Well, that's one problem solved, huh?" he exclaimed, striding towards them, shotgun held loosely at his side. "You really did put up a fight there. But it seems like it would've been better for her if you'd just stayed in that basement, doesn't it?"

He leaned in close to Kara's face, exhaling hot, putrid breath.

"Serves you right for having a dream," he whispered. "They always end in tears."

In a flash, Luther snatched the shotgun from Zlatko's arms and pointed it at him, shuffling Kara behind himself.

"Get back," he muttered.

Zlatko's eyes were wide with shock. "You. . . you _dare_." he hissed.

"Get back," Luther repeated, shoving the gun at him. "I'll shoot you right now."

Zlatko backed up a pace, raising his arms above his head. Then another. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "You are _mine_. You have to obey me--"

"You were gonna let that little girl die." Luther's face tightened. "She's hurt."

"We all die sometime," Zlatko agreed, shrugging. "What does it matter if she dies now?"

"She's a little girl." Luther licked his lips and nodded jerkily, meeting Kara's eyes for a moment. "She deserves to live. . . More than you do."

The faint echoes of sirens met their ears. Getting louder.

"You called the police." Zlatko grinned, disbelieving. "You _disobeyed me_."

"I'm holding _you_ at _gunpoint_ ," Luther returned in a slow voice. "I think. . . I think obedience is off the table at this point, don't you?"

Behind him, the door banged open. The monstrosities were here, the androids he had mutilated. A low, disturbing humming accompanied them, along with tortured groans.

The sirens picked up.

Zlatko turned this way and that, unsure which threat to face. "You're machines," he told the advancing creatures. "I am your master. You've got to obey me--you've got to--!"

The leading android slammed itself into him with the force of a rhino, hitting and beating him down with the long, nightmarish arms Zlatko had welded onto him. Spurred on by his screams, the others surrounded him, too, hitting and thrashing and kicking while he collapsed to the ground, attempting to cover his head with his arms. Sirens were getting louder and louder--they could see the blue and red lights now.

"No--NO! I AM YOUR MASTER! I AM YOUR _MASTER_!"

Kara, ignoring her pain, dropped to Alice's side and pulled her close, squeezing her own eyes closed. She wanted this to stop.

The iron gate slammed open in the front; they could hear shouting voices. Zlatko's screams hadn't quite stopped, and the police were headed directly to the back.

Luther tossed aside the gun and grabbed Kara's shoulder, pulling her up gently but firmly to face him.

"We have to go," he said clearly. "If you can't trust me, I understand, but--"

"I trust you," Kara said automatically, "but we can't leave Alice."

"Kara, look at her." Luther turned her head towards the collapsed girl half on the ground, half in Kara's arms. "She isn't in any state to run. The police are here--"

"The police can't take her!" she said frantically. "I need to protect her--"

"Can you heal her?"

The voices were coming to the backyard. They had seconds.

"They're going to take her to the hospital, Kara. They can help her. The humans."

"But--"

"Kara, come on!" he said, pulling to her feet. Dumbfounded, Kara allowed herself to be tugged into the bushes.

As they went through the back gate, the police broke into the clearing. One cop ran to the fallen figure of Alice and--after taking her pulse--called out for another to get the medic.

He picked her up.

Hot tears were streaming down Kara's face as she watched them take her from through the fence. Luther was silent, allowing her to sob silently and privately.

"They're going to take care of her, Kara," he reassured.

"If I can't protect her," she sobbed, turning to Luther and embracing him, "who am I, Luther? _Who am I_?"

"You're a strong woman, Kara," he answered simply. "You're a brave mother. You will get her back."

"How?" she sniffled. "I can't. Androids can't have children. . ."

"Maybe one day, they can." He smiled slightly. "We will take her back, Kara. You will get her back."

"The only way I could raise Alice in peace is if we were people," she whispered, half to herself. "If the humans saw us as people."

"I suppose so--"

She fell back to the fence, looking. The police were studying Zlatko's fallen body, trying to round up the monstrous androids.

"I have an idea," she said, simply, quietly. "Will you help me?"

"I'll follow you, Kara," Luther replied, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Where do we go from here?"

Kara's tear-stained face was strangely shadowed under the streetlight as she glanced upwards, as if she'd forgotten his presence.

"Alice is everything to me," she articulated, swallowing back another sob. "If I want to get her back, after she's taken care of, we're going to need some help."

"Where can we get help?" he asked.

Kara smiled grimly. Her eyes darkened.

"We're going back to Jericho."

Around them, the rain began falling lightly again, creating a mask of fog which allowed them to escape through the back alleys and begin the long trek back to the docks.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**DOUBLE-PSYCHOUT COMBO!!!** _
> 
> You didn't think they'd get away from Zlatko's _that_ easily, did you? No, something had to change. I'm sorry about what happened, but I promise you--or at least I hope--it'll be worth it.
> 
> On the bright side. We're about to get up close and personal with the side of Kara you were promised when you began this fic. This is what you wanted, right?
> 
>  
> 
> **This is where the real story begins.**
> 
>  
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, and comments are welcomed! ^v^


	8. Companions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Luther go back to Jericho in order to get help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S A SHORT ONE. I've been spending a lot of time working on other fics and writing non-chronologically for this one, so the next chapter might take a while! However, the ones that will come after will hopefully appear at a much faster rate. . . I'm in the last draft of my planning process and have several chapters and scenes that'll appear later already completed.  
> Just not the next chapter. Whoops.  
>  **EDIT: Added the Lucy scene. I cannot believe I forgot it. OOPS**

Finding her way back to Jericho wasn't nearly as difficult as the first time. She led Luther carefully through the streets, guiding him to act natural in a new world.

She didn't realize how skilled she was at staying calm and collected under pressure until she began traveling with someone who . . .wasn't quite as skilled. Luther's only experience with humans was with Zlatko, who had wiped his memory when he first captured him, and reprogrammed him to silently obey.

Luckily, the nervous android had nothing to worry about. Kara and Luther managed to avoid human contact, for the most part, and by the time they climbed aboard the old wreck of a ship, she had a plan.

As the duo stepped into the gaping room, dotted with LEDs shining in the dark, Kara realized instantly that something was different. The silence that settled down upon the group was more hopeless. Darker.

The unrest sat upon the group like a heavy, gloomy fog.

Simon, sitting in his place in the corner, got to his feet. "Kara, you're back." he welcomed.

"Kara!" North rushed forwards and embraced her. Suddenly, she froze. "Where's your daughter? I thought you were going to Canada with her. Hey, are you okay?"

"Alice is gone." she heard herself say. "I. . . I couldn't protect her."

North's eyes widened--instantly, she pulled Kara back into a bone-crushing hug.

"Kara, I'm so sorry," she mumbled, voice muffled in Kara's jacket.

"She's at the hospital, we think," Luther spoke up from the corner. He had fallen back as North came forwards, still somewhat skittish. "She was injured and the police took her away. They're going to heal her."

"They can't take her away from you," North stated matter-of-factly. "You're her _mother,_ Kara."

Tears trickled from Kara's closed eyes as she brought her hands up to return the hug, gripping North's shirt so tightly her knuckles were white. The room was silent. After a minute or two, Kara swallowed deeply, blinked away the wetness around her eyes, and managed to compose herself.

"I came to ask a favor," she admitted as North stepped back, allowing her space once more.

"We can't do much for anyone," Josh warned. "We're slowly dying down here. No parts, no more Thiruim. . ."

"I need to break in to the hospital and get Alice back."

Silence fell once more--the unpleasant silence that halts a conversation when nobody wants to respond, nobody wants to be the one to vocalize what the rest are thinking. The unease in Kara's chest suddenly intensified to a dull throb of panic. 

"What's wrong?"

"We can't help you with that." Josh spoke up, voice tight.

" _What_?"

"Kara, listen," Simon began soothingly. "Alice is hurt, right? She's in the hospital?"

"Yes, she hit her head--"

"We don't even know if she's healthy enough to be taken away from the hospital yet." North gritted her teeth. "Would you want to break into a hospital and find her unable to run?"

"I can't do _nothing_ , North!" Kara yelled, voice suddenly breaking. "God, you think I _want_ to bring her somewhere unsafe? But she doesn't have any family--even if she does, what if they're just like him? What if they try to bring her back to that _terrible_ place, and I won't be there to protect her?"

North reared back, eyes wide. She looked to the others for guidance, but found none--the rest wore similarly startled expressions. None present had seen Kara in this sort of state before.

Luther paced a comforting hand on her shoulder. Silent. She closed her eyes, hot tears trickling from the corners again.

 _Who designed us to be able to cry?_ she wondered again, vaguely, through the fog of grief.

Simon breathed deeply. "Talk to Lucy. Before we make any decisions."

"Lucy?" Kara shook her head rapidly. "We're in a hurry--"

"It's important."

She closed her mouth and nodded. The more quickly she agreed, the faster she would be able to leave and save Alice.

Wordlessly, Simon nodded towards the dark sheets, hanging over the small room Kara hadn't noticed during her first visit. She pushed apart the curtains and stepped inside.

The first thing she noticed was that the room was awash in dim blue light. It was a bit lighter than the outside, but still almost too dim for her to make out the petite figure standing across from her.

With a start, she noticed that the android's skull was cracked open--wires flowed from her head and all around the room, the source of the light. Her eyes opened, and Kara inadvertently took a step backwards when she caught sight of her inky black eyes.

"Sit down."

Kara obeyed, sitting on the crate to her right. Silently, she watched Lucy move about, slowly, purposefully. She held out a bottle towards her guest, filled with a deep cerulean liquid.

"Drink this," she instructed. Kara obeyed, draining the contents in a few swallows.

As strength began returning to her limbs, Kara stretched her arms out, deactivating her skin for the moment. It felt freeing to be able to reveal herself so wholly in such a safe place.

Lucy's face flickered with the ghost of a smile. "Show me your arm, please."

Hesitantly, Kara reached towards her. Lucy took hold of her arm and closed her eyes.

_Fire._

_Frost._

_Water._

_Stone._

Her eyes flew open, and she let go quickly. Kara drew her arm back, unsure of what to make of Lucy's reaction.

"Are you all right?" she asked, worried.

"Something has gone very wrong," Lucy began quietly. "You are not meant to be here, Kara. The odds were against you--nothing should have allowed you to be put in this position."

"What do. . . what does that mean?"

"It means. . . you are lost. Countless paths are opening up before you. Your future holds so many possibilities--so many doors. For love. For family. For freedom. . ."

Lucy clasped her shaking hands. "So many possibilities," she murmured again, almost to herself. "So many sides. You embody heat, as well as its antidote. You are steadfast; you are flowing. You are emotional, emotionless. Sure, unsure. Your actions--along with the actions of others--will determine the fate of our kind. Your possibilities. . ."

"Lucy?" Kara felt cold. "What _possibilities_? Can I rescue Alice or not?"

The android was silent for a minute. Finally, she met Kara's eyes.

"You can save Alice, and raise her as her mother, and she your daughter." she responded slowly. "If you so choose.

"But," she interrupted Kara's exclamation, "it will not be an easy path."

"I don't care about easy," Kara replied desperately. "I'll do anything."

Lucy's eyes flickered in the blue light.

"Then you will."

Kara emerged from the cloistered room, brushing off her jacket. "Lucy says it's possible," she announced. "If none of you want to help me, I will be on my way."

Luther sat up abruptly from the corner where he'd taken a seat. "I'm staying with you, Kara." he reassured. 

"We, then." Kara looked around. No one wanted to meet her eyes. "We will go. We will try to rescue my daughter from the possibility of future harm. Alone."

North and Josh stayed silent. Both seemed to be calculating. Simon, however, looked Kara in the eyes with a determination she hadn't yet seen from him.

"You're right," he said clearly. "We can't let the little girl's life be endangered again."

"Simon, she's a human--"

"Simon, we don't have the resources--"

"I'll help her," He cut off his two companions. "You both should stay here with the rest of us. . . Protect them. I know you can. We can go out and try to find her ourselves."

Kara shot him the most grateful look she could muster. He smiled back at her, as if he hadn't quite remembered how.

"Thank you. . ."

"Don't mention it." He looked to the looming presence of the android behind her. "I assume. . ."

"I'm coming, too." Luther answered.

Simon looked back at the other two, who were exchanging an identical stricken look.

"Kara, I want to go with you--" North began.

"Stay with them," Simon repeated firmly. "You can help them here."

"We can't just keep waiting down here!" North threw her tennis ball against the wall, where it ricocheted off and bounced away into the darkness. She cursed.

"North, calm down." Josh reached for her. "We'll be okay until they get back."

North jerked her arm away and stormed off, up the stairs. Josh groaned and turned back to the trio.

"Look," he began. "If you really want to go, you should go. But if it's too dangerous to take Alice with you, you need to leave her and come back. I hate to admit it, but North was right about this. You can't live in peace with her until we have real freedom. . . besides staying down here."

"Having no master is one thing," Kara agreed quietly. "Being the master of our own lives is quite another. I will do anything to find her. To protect her."

Simon held his hand out to her, and smiled softly. "Let's go."

Kara took it firmly. Purposefully, she smiled, normally soft blue eyes glittering sharp and dangerous in the darkness.

"Alice, here we come."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortest chapter yet. Shouldn't even count as a chapter. But it's something, right?
> 
> Anyway, sorry it took so long. Comments, as always, are welcomed! Tell me how terribly I'm treating these characters please I love getting encouragement for being evil lmaooo


	9. Hospital Beds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara, Luther and Simon have a mission. 
> 
> So does Connor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahhhh!! I know it's been like forever since I posted a chapter and I'm really sorry! Life's been kicking my butt lately, what with the holidays and stuff. Not to mention I've had severe writer's block on this chapter.
> 
> Hopefully I can move past it and get back into the groove of a steady update schedule. New years bring fresh starts, right? As always, thank you for reading and sticking with me and ily all!!! <3 <3 <3

She was happy to be in another household. It was easier to hide in households. She had been passed around for so long, settling down with a single father and his daughter would be a wonderful change.

The girl was skittish and danced around near encounters with her around the house, unsure how to behave around an android. Kara wanted to reassure her that she wasn't like most, she was like Alice, but she couldn't.

_Keep silent._

When Todd slammed her up against the wall, hand around her throat, she nearly cried out. When he threatened her--you don't wanna piss me off, do you?--she wanted to fight back, to respond with righteous anger. But she didn't.

Keep silent.

The little girl was being shaken by her father. He screamed in her face. Her tear-stained, pained face turned towards Kara--her eyes cried, begged _help me. Do something. Anything._

Kara stood frozen on the stairs--she wanted to intervene, wanted to stop him, wanted to say something, do something.

But she couldn't. . . 

Had to keep silent.

She had tried to serve them spaghetti. Alice hadn't even gotten the chance to begin eating before Todd was thrown into a rage. He slapped her.

Alice had cried, looked up into his eyes, searching desperately for the father she once knew. The man who had loved her.

He glowered down at her, cold, disgusting hatred burning behind his empty eyes.

So she had run.

_Get back here, you little bitch. Get back here!_

Kara had moved to follow her, head up the stairs. A finger lowered, hate-filled eyes met hers.

_Don't you fucking move. You're a machine and you do as I say. Don't move, or I'll tear you limb from limb._

She had stopped.

He headed up the stairs.

Stay silent. They'll break you. He'll break you. Stay silent. Don't move. You're a machine. You're alive. You can't let them know. Stay silent. He'll break you--

Screams. Blood-curdling screams from upstairs. _No, Daddy, no. Please, don't. Please._

**She didn't move--**

 

" _ALICE!_ "

Kara gasped, flying up and out of the hotel bed. Sheets tangled in her legs, clutching blankets in her shaking hands. Breathe in. Breathe out. Cool your processors. You're going haywire.

"Alice, Alice!" she cried frantically. The girl wasn't anywhere in the room, the dark room. A figure, seated on the floor, moved sleepily--

"No! You can't hurt her!" she screamed, falling backwards off the bed and slamming into the floor.

"Kara!"

"Kara?!"

The lights flicked on. Simon, standing by the door, stared at her, eyes wide. Luther was on his feet by now as well.

"You can't take her!" she sobbed, crawling backwards. "Where did you take her?"

"Alice is safe, Kara," Luther said soothingly. He moved towards her slowly, non threateningly. "Listen--"

"Luther?" Her shallow breaths became a bit less panicked. "Where's--"

"She's at the hospital, Kara," Simon reassured quickly. "She's being given care. We're going to get her in the morning. There's nothing to worry about."

"I. . . I'm sorry." Kara clutched her temples, curling up against the wall next to the window. A sob shuddered in her chest. "I didn't mean to shout and wake you--"

"I don't sleep, anyway," Luther replied, smiling.

Simon was watching her carefully, however. "What happened?"

"My. . . my processors must have gone haywire." Kara blinked the tears away, regaining control over her body and mind. "I relived memories. . . but they weren't my memories."

"Memories?" he asked, tilting his head. "You thought about them?"

"No, no. It was like I was there again. I was reliving it. But it was different." She looked at her hands. "It was very, very different."

Luther moved around the bed and sat down beside her, draping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, closing her eyes.

"You dreamed." Simon's voice was curious. 

"Androids can't dream," she responded automatically.

"But you did, nevertheless." He smiled and sat down on the bed. "Will you tell us what you dreamed, Kara?"

She looked down again. The carpet's pattern was red, and loud. Kara didn't like it.

"It was my first day at the Williams house," she found herself admitting. "I had to hide being a deviant. I had to hide the fact that I was alive from everyone. . . I promised him."

"But?" he pressed.

"But he was abusing her. He was hurting her!" Kara turned her panicky blue eyes on Simon. "I wasn't supposed to move. And so I didn't. I stood there, and I listened to her screams. Until. . . they stopped."

Luther had gone still. 

"I was so helpless. I couldn't do anything." She turned to the others, a terrified look on her face. "Is that was it's like to be. . . caged? I was frozen in place, there was something barricading me from acting."

"Programming." Simon replied. "You were given a taste of what it's like to _not_ be born deviant. To have to deviate yourself." 

"It was _impossible.”_

__

Simon smiled faintly. “You would’ve been able to do it.”

__

Luther nodded in agreement.

__

”So, what _did_ happen? That day?"

__

"I knew something was wrong right away, I just wasn't sure what!" Kara cried. "So after he shook her the first time, after he passed out on the couch, I went to her. I told her, 'we're going to get out of here. I'm going to protect you.' I told her to pack some clothes, and her stuffed animal, and her toothbrush. I took his gun from his room. But she didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay with him--he was her father, she loved him, and she still thought he loved her."

__

Kara took another shuddering breath and continued. "So I cooked dinner. I set the table. I woke him up and I brought him to the table. And he attacked her. He told me to stay put. But I went to her at once. We were about to leave when he came in. . . and he. . . I. . ."

__

Luther's hands clasped around hers. "It's okay, Kara," he murmured. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

__

Kara shook her head. "No, it's all right. You deserve to know. I shot him."

__

Silence.

__

"He grabbed me and threw me on the ground, and I squeezed the trigger--and he stopped moving. Alice was terrified, but we went to his room and stole some money, and other things. I took his coat. And we left before the police arrived. We took a bus into the city."

__

"And then you left her at a safe place for the night, and found Jericho," Simon finished.

__

"I thought it was best." Kara squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip until Thirium ran from her mouth. "I never should have left her alone. I should have savored every moment I had with her. I should have--"

__

"Kara, that doesn't help you now. Thinking about that doesn't help." Luther said firmly. "We're going to get her back, and that's what matters."

__

He pulled her into a hug. Slowly, Kara raised her arms and returned it, allowing herself to be lost in the silence of the moment.

__

"Oh, come here," Luther said, half-exasperated, half-teasingly. Before Kara realized what he was talking about, Simon had--hesitantly--joined the hug, patting her shoulder awkwardly. Luther swept him up into the hug as well.

__

They sat there, in the dim lamplight of the hotel room at three in the morning, holding one another.

__

 

__

Once Simon--luckily, he had kept his uniform clean, and was incredibly good at staying low-profile--had purchased the clothes with the remainder of Kara's cash early that morning, they were nearly ready.

__

"It might be nice to have someplace else to hide," Kara mentioned, staring into the mirror and adjusting the white beanie over her brown ponytail. "I should probably cut this hair, shouldn't I?"

__

"We're just going back to Jericho after the mission," Simon reassured her. "And you look fine."

__

She glared at her face, frustrated at her helplessness. "What if someone recognizes my model?"

__

"They won't. AX400s are older, they're outdated by this point."

__

She shot him a look.

__

"Like PL600s," he added, smiling slightly.

__

Kara's eyes softened a bit.

__

"No one will recognize me, either," Luther put in. He was sitting on the bed, flipping through a magazine. "TR400s are only used for hauling and grunt work. Unless somebody works at the docks or something, I will be able to fly under the radar."

__

Kara sighed deeply and turned away from the mirror. Tightly, she pulled the long, olive coat around herself and began winding the gray scarf around her neck.

__

"Are you sure this outfit is okay?" she asked, glancing down at the blue jeans and laced-up short boots. They seemed a bit too casual for her tastes. Self-consciousness arose in her gut, and she squinted at herself.

__

"It's fashionable enough to be unnoticeable, and it suits you." Simon spread his hands. "What more is needed?"

__

"I guess you're right." Kara sighed. "Luther, how about you?"

__

Luther smiled, tossing aside the magazine. "I've got my jacket and pants. No need for fashion for me--no one's going to look twice at me with you there, anyway."

__

Kara, who had been examining her soft, sunset orange shirt with disdain, did a double take. "What?"

__

"You're attractive, Kara," Simon said, as if it was obvious. "Not to mention your face looks like the face of an angel who wouldn't hurt a fly."

__

She thought of Todd, instinctively, and chuckled despite herself. 

__

"No. And I think," she directed teasingly at Luther, "you're underestimating the size of these people. Literally. You'll stick out like a sore thumb!"

__

Luther shrugged, as if it didn't matter.

__

"Well. . ." Simon smiled.

__

"But really, you have nothing to worry about. Everything is going to be okay, all right?" Luther got up and came over to where the other two were standing. Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he smiled encouragingly.

__

"Yes, everything is going to be fine." Kara cracked her knuckles. "We go in. We find Alice. We get her out, and bring you back to Jericho."

__

"'You'?" Simon questioned, eyebrow quirking up.

__

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Kara admitted. "Finding Alice is all that matters right now."

__

"And saving her." Luther nodded, taking down his gray jacket. "All right."

__

 

__

Kara strolled up to the desk casually, arm looped in Luther's, but inside, she was quaking like jelly. Stopping a moment to take in the mural on the wall, which showcased an angel raising protecting arms over the sick and dying below, she couldn't help but be impressed with the humans.

__

Androids couldn't create beautiful art like that.

__

. . .Could they?

__

A question for another day. Luther stepped backwards to let her handle the situation as Kara turned to the front desk again, and made eye contact with the freckled android there. 

__

"May I help you?" she asked, bright smile plastered across her face.

__

_You poor thing._ "Yes, I need to see my niece." Kara smiled tightly. "An Alice Williams?"

__

"Right away." The android blinked, filing away some information, sifting through the archives embedded in her mind. "Your names and registrations, please?"

__

Fighting back the wave of dread in her gut and ignoring Luther's sudden stiffening beside her, Kara smiled lightly. "Of course," she said politely, pulling out her and her companion's fake registrations and sliding them forward, towards the android who was reaching and would instantly register them as such--

__

She grabbed the android's arm and before she could speak, quietly transferred her memories, all conscious thought melding together in one mass of emotions.

__

Alice. Androids. Separation. Freedom. Hope.

__

Pleading.

__

The android snapped her arm back, as if burned. She blinked rapidly, but nothing she was programmed with could properly file this new overwhelming information away. Her hand went up to her temple, where her LED flashed red, just for a moment--before it returned to yellow and settled on blue. Kara realized she was gripping Luther's hand, and let go at once, shifting a half-step away from him and towards the android.

__

Her eyes flicked upwards and met Kara's.

__

"Please," the mother whispered. "I need to see her."

__

". . . Right away." The android glanced down, biting her lip, before bringing her whole face upwards again, lit up with that dazzling customer-service smile. "It looks like your registration is in order. Please, right this way."

__

She pressed a button on her desk, and the glass doors slid open before them. Carefully, Kara stepped through them, breathing deeply to cool her rapidly whirring internal processors.

__

Phase one, complete.

__

 

__

Connor straightened his tie, raising his eyes to the elevator doors as they slid open with a ding. As he crisply stepped over the threshold, he relayed his mission in his mind:

__

_Question the child about the deviant._

__

It wasn't often that the humans got such a close look at a deviant--let alone such a personal bond. 

__

Most deviants hated humans. . . 

__

Just another difference unique to this AX400. Just another thing that intrigued Connor. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the details of this case, more than the average deviant case, if only because of the android itself.

__

An image of its eyes--staring him down with raw, chaotic, fiery energy he hadn't thought possible of humans, much less androids--flashed into his mind. 

__

Not for the first time today.

__

The room number was 413. Connor shook himself out of his reverie, thoughts dispersing, when he caught sight of the hulking man standing by the door--the girl's door.

__

"Excuse me," he said, tapping the man on the shoulder. "I need to--"

__

As the man's eyes turned on him, panicked, Connor blinked. Something looked familiar.

__

"I'm sorry," the man said slowly, "but Alice isn't accepting visitors at the moment."

__

"I just have to ask her a few questions," Connor said, shaking off his unease. He'd never seen the man before, and Hank had mentioned that it was rude to scan others off-guard, so he had his automatic scanning processor turned off. "I'm with the Detroit Police Department."

__

The man shook his head slightly. "She hasn't even woken up yet," he rumbled. "She can't answer anything."

__

Connor, subtly, looked the man up and down. Analyzing the little details most people miss.

__

_Fidgeting with his hands. Sign of nervousness._

__

_Breathing unnatural._

__

_Cap pulled down over his forehead. . ._

__

"Sir, will you please excuse me?" Connor said, as politely as he could. "I would appreciate it if you would move aside. I would rather not make a scene in the hallway."

__

The man's eyes widened, just for a moment.

__

"I can't let you in until she's done looking at her," he whispered. "When she's done, you can go in. But she needs this. You can't interrupt their reunion."

__

Connor weighed his options, silently calculating.

__

_She?_

__

 

__

When Kara entered the room, the lights flicked on. Alice's lids were closed and her breathing looked shallow, especially with the hulking machines surrounding her bed and hooked up to her frail body. She was covered in blankets, with her soft, brown hair spread out around her pillow and on her bedspread like a halo.

__

"Alice?" Kara whispered.

__

The girl didn't stir. Her skin was pale.

__

Slowly, Kara moved to sit down on the bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping figure. She took the little one's small hand in hers.

__

It was limp.

__

Kara clutched it tightly, fighting back the wave of tears that was pressing against her eyes. She hadn't wanted this. This was what she was trying to _prevent._

__

Yet here they were.

__

Kara closed her eyes and tried to think. If Alice was comatose, she probably hadn't been for too long. The injury had only occured the previous day--and most comas only lasted a day or two, if they weren't long-term.

__

Alice might be able to hear her.

__

Kara swallowed, trying to verbalize the swirling emotions twisting her gut. 

__

"Hi, Alice," she finally whispered, voice nearly cracking with emotion. "It's me, Kara. I'm sorry you were injured at Zlatko's. . . I should have been more careful. I found some people, they're going to help me. We're going to get you out of here, once you're healthy enough. We're going to be together, just like I promised."

__

She took a deep, shuddering breath and continued. "We're going to be together and happy and safe, because I'm going to help make the world see that I am alive and we can be a family. I swear to you that I am going to come back. I will come back for you. But right now, I have to fight to make a better world. Not just for me--for you. For _us._ "

__

Kara began to release Alice's hand, but it was gripping hers tightly. She froze.

__

" _Alice_?"

__

Her eyes were still closed, but Alice's heart rate had picked up. Her hand was keeping Kara's in a vicelike grip. In a flash, Kara realized that though Alice's body was asleep, her mind was not. Though no words came from her still lips, no expression was present on her pale face, the little girl's message came through to her mother loud and clear.

__

She didn't want Kara to let go.

__

"Alice," Kara breathed, dropping to her knees and bringing her forehead down onto the comforter, sobs choking her throat again. "I'm so, so sorry."

__

 

__

After her tears had dried, she moved to stand, and audio processors picked up a snippet of conversation outside the door. The thirium turned to ice in her veins.

__

". . . Detroit Police Department. . ."

__

One panicked moment later, she forced herself to take a deep breath in order to calm her nerves. She could get by, sneak by. She was dressed like a human, she would be all right. They would both be all--

__

A slam. A cry. Suddenly, there was shouting. Kara went numb.

__

Falling backwards in panic, she had torn her hand free of Alice's, but there was no time to worry about that. Someone knew she was here, someone was trying to get to her! Another angry grunt from outside--Luther was fighting them off, but she had to get out somehow, escape!

__

 

__

Alice Williams's mother was deceased.

__

Connor blinked and sifted through the files he'd been briefed on--the family situation, the living relatives.

__

Alice and Todd had been alone.

__

Any reunion had to be--

__

"Step aside, sir," Connor reached for the doorknob, senses sharpening. "I need to see her right away."

__

Without warning, the android lunged for him, sending Connor sprawling to the ground. He scuttled backwards, trying to stand, as the android--the deviant, of course it was a deviant!--advanced, arms out.

__

He feinted right, then leapt up left, dodging around the slow android and yanking the door open. A strong hand latched his shoulder and spun him backwards, against the wall.

__

Connor had moments to duck--an arm slammed into the wall right were his head had been. Growling, he reached backwards and took hold of his weapon.

__

"Don't move!"

__

He pointed the gun at the huge android, whose arms were up. Panting, he backed away and into the doorway.

__

"If you move again, I will not hesitate to shoot you," Connor warned it. "I am going to find the android in this room, and then you both will be arrested."

__

When the android stayed silent, he turned back and looked around the room.

__

A little girl lay on the bed, immobile and asleep.

__

There was no one else in the room.

__

Connor glanced around incredulously, trying to spy a hiding spot. He strode two steps and yanked open the tiny bathroom door, only to reveal more no one. Letting out a breath of frustration, he popped back out, staring around again, seeing nothing.

__

He glanced down for clues, trying to form a sense for what had transpired.

__


	10. The Game Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a narrow escape, Kara finds herself in charge of more than a few runaway deviants, and must decide what to do and where to go from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!! We're getting into the game of cat-and-mouse between Kara and Connor--Babylon and the humans--that I've been excited to write this whole time. We're about to see Kara make some dangerous decisions, hurt a few people, break a few eggs. Freedom is an omelet worth having.
> 
> That's gonna be my yearbook quote. Incredible. Anyway, get hyped!

Kara clung to the side of the building, wind howling in her ears. Six stories up made for a long drop, one she couldn't risk. All she could do was wait and hope that she would be given a chance to clamber back in the room. All she could do was pray that someone's head didn't come peering down at her from inside Alice's room. . .

 

 _What is this little girl's talent with finding violent androids to protect her,_ he wondered vaguely, and noticed the window.

It was hanging wide open.

In an instant, he had strode towards the window and slowly, slowly, leaned downwards.

 

Kara knew there was only a slim chance the police android wouldn't notice that the pane open, so she slowly looked around. There was a window about six feet below the bottoms of her feet, and it miraculously was open. Could she grab the windowsill as she fell? Did she dare?

From above, there came a shout, and her heart leapt to her throat. _Out of time._

She let go.

 

"Stop!" Connor yelled, but the person's grip went slack moments before he was able to grab her--its, it _must_ be a deviant, to hide like that!--wrist, and it dropped like a stone--

for a moment, before it grabbed the windowsill below, clung to it, and scrambled inside. He watched it disappear.

"Shit," he swore under his breath, turning and suddenly he was slammed up against the wall again by the first android, who was frankly getting quite annoying. Connor brought his legs up with the momentum and kicked it in the chest with both feet, sending it stumbling backwards long enough for him to be under its arms and gone again. It shouted desperately, but he slammed the door shut behind him and sprinted for the elevators.

_She's here, she's here, she's here._

He pressed the button for the bottom floor and the doors slid shut. The old machine was too slow, far too slow. He whipped out his coin and began flipping it between his hands anxiously as he waited.

The doors slid open with a bright _ding!_ and Connor all but fell out, tripping over himself, scanning hungrily for an undercover android, _any_ undercover android.

His jaw dropped when, on the third scan, there was none.

He had miscalculated.

Growling, Connor pulled out the old-fashioned walkie-talkie and clicked it on.

"Call it in, there's a deviant on the loose. Female type, couldn't get a good enough look to tell its model, but it's wearing a hat and a green jacket."

Hank's voice crackled back over in response:

"For fuck's sake, Connor, this is why you don't go and do little research projects on your own! I'm on my way."

He brought it up to his lips again.

"Hurry, please."

A moment or two passed before the radio crackled again.

"Shut the hell up and let me drive, then!"

 

Kara couldn't leave Luther behind. He was surely chasing the police android, trying to keep him from catching her. 

That's why, when she exited the empty room, she didn't head for the elevator, or the stairs.

She headed for the fire escape.

Clambering back out the window and down the railing, she ripped her jacket off and threw away her beanie. He had seen what she was wearing; she had to get rid of at least a bit of it. Ripping the hair tie out of her ponytail, the wind whipped her loose brown locks around her face, and she squinted around, looking for a way to lure the police.

_I'll give him ten minutes to escape._

She had to get their attention and keep it for ten minutes.

_Guess I'm not running back to Jericho, huh?_

Kara smiled without humor and climbed down the fire escape, dropping down the last few feet to the alley pavement. It was deserted, so she dashed out and headed for the parking lot.

A cop car, lights blaring, zoomed by, and she barely halted in time to prevent herself from being hit. The car slammed on its brakes and the horn blasted--she grit her teeth and forced herself to wave in apology to the driver and continue her escape slowly, until they inevitable realized who they'd missed.

She watched the car screech to a halt right in front of the hospital. A grizzled old man hopped out, making a beeline for the entrance.

A _familiar_ grizzled old man.

_Does that mean. . ._

The android chasing her was the same as before, too.

Kara's blue blood ran cold, and she again had to remind herself that running would only increase her suspicion.

Still, it was hard not to when she remembered those cold brown eyes, staring at her from behind the fence.

 

"It's somewhere, I saw it!" Connor exclaimed as Hank got within shouting distance in the lobby. "It jumped out the window!"

"It jumped out the--fuuuuck. You serious?" Hank groaned. "You had me break every traffic law in the book to come collect a busted up android on the ground outside?"

"It managed to get in one of the windows!" he explained quickly. "And it had an accomplice, some big TR400 model. It attacked me and it's probably still upstairs."

Hank did a double take. "You didn't think to mention this before?" he hissed.

"It didn't seem as important, no."

"This the same android from before? The one with the girl?" Hank drew his gun and stalked for the elevator.

"I'm almost sure of it," Connor affirmed. "Only _it_ would have the insanity to jump out of a window. It's more important to catch the female--it's the ringleader. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the one who made the TR400 go deviant in the first place."

"Shouldn't we--"

"It's not a threat!" he almost begged. "We have to catch the other!"

Hank paused, then snarled. "Uugh, _fine_. Think it's outside?"

Something clicked. "There were emergency exits--the fire escape. We should check those! We'll be sure to catch her if we're fast enough!"

Muttering something under his breath, the human moved to follow Connor's lead. He stopped.

"What was that, Lieutenant?"

"Nuthin'."

 

Kara was desperate. She had waited an entire minute for the two to exit--perhaps they would try to neutralize Luther first? But she needn't have worried--the doors crashed open and the pair stormed out, android in the lead. She breathed a sigh of relief before realizing what this meant she had to do now.

Across the parking lot, its eyes caught hers. Even in the distance, she caught them narrow, saw him shout. The human did a one-eighty, aiming his gun. 

She ducked and sprinted for the street.

 

Buildings, buildings. She had seconds to choose somewhere to run before the two caught up. A hotel, a bar, a records building--

An archive. A library. Choice made, she shoved open the door and made for the bathrooms, at a reasonably fast clip. Time would tell whether they'd seen her or not.

Kara entered a stall, locking the flimsy door and curling up on the toilet. She stared at the pristine silver surface, seeing her own windswept reflection staring furiously back at her.

 _Oh, do I really look like that?_ she wondered hazily, running her fingers through her hair to try to calm it down a bit.

 

The bathroom door swung open, and she caught her breath. Now or never, now or--

"Kara?"

She peered over the door in surprise. "Simon??"

"Kara! I'm so happy you managed to get here!" The blonde android, still dressed in a neat uniform, wrung his hands. "I thought the tracker must be broken! Where's--"

The doorbell rang as another guest entered the establishment. The door slammed against the wall, hard, and she knew immediately what that meant--

"Shh!" Kara hissed, shoving open the stall and dragging him in with her, locking the door.

Footsteps. Outside, a pair of angry voices rang out.

"We just need to check a _few more_ \--"

"Connor, face facts. You lost it. Now let's get back to the hospital, see if we can find the other one, and pick up the pieces of this fuckin' case."

"But I didn't--"

"Come _on_!"

Without waiting for a reply, the footsteps thudded off again. Simon, pressed up against her--this stall was far too small for the both of them!--shifted uncomfortably, but Kara was completely focused on those soft, neat footsteps that still hadn't left.

He was standing right outside the bathroom. . .

Doorbell again.

"You comin'?"

"Yes," the faint reply came, and Kara closed her eyes as the light footsteps headed out into the Detroit streets once more.

Kara released Simon's mouth, which she hadn't realized she was holding. He gave her a reproachful look and pushed open the door.

"Sorry," she muttered. "He was right _there_."

"Where's Luther?"

"He's back at the hospital. Things went south, fast--that police android attacked him and came in, looking for me."

Simon's icy eyes went wide. "How did he know we would be here?"

"I have no idea." Kara rubbed her eyes and sat down on the sink. The bathroom was abandoned, thankfully. "All I know is, he showed up and Luther tried to stop him."

"How did he overpower _Luther_?"

"He was probably armed," she mumbled, turning to look in the mirror. Her reflection stared back at her, frightened, hair messy. "I lost my jacket."

"It's okay, we can scrounge around for a little more money."

She headed towards the door. Simon started.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't we hide out a little longer?"

"I was born deviant," she replied. "I never thought there was anyone like me. . . I want to find out how many others there are."

He stared at her, uncomprehending.

She held out a hand, beckoning. "Why do you think I came in here? It's time to do a little research."

* * *

Luckily, the building was all but abandoned. Simon, wearing a large coat he'd "borrowed" indoors to cover his uniform, received a few strange looks from passing workers, but for the most part, the two were uninterrupted. 

A half-hour later, she was growing frustrated. "There's nothing in the newspaper archives about deviants at _all_. It's like we don't exist."

"They don't _want_ us to exist, remember?" Simon smiled slightly and took down another book. "It's natural that there'd be nothing, save the occasional paranoid speculative article about the--what did they call it?--robo-revolution."

Kara snorted and scrolled down further. 

"Elijah Kamski lived in the area. That's a thought." She closed out the tab and opened a book that Simon had discarded beside her.

"Kamski isn't affiliated with CyberLife anymore," Simon spoke up again. "He retired a few years ago."

"After he'd become filthy rich from selling off our people." Kara narrowed her eyes. "Maybe we should--"

_Kara?_

The voice echoed in her mind. She had never been so happy to hear it.

"Simon, Luther just contacted me!"

 _Luther! Are you all right?_ she responded.

_I'm fine, Kara. More than fine, actually. There are a lot of deviants now--they saw what happened, and they decided to help hide me._

_That's wonderful._ She turned another page. _Are you still at the hospital?_

_No, we're in the subway tunnels below. Someone found an old passage here from the basement. Where should we go?_

Kara considered. _Are you likely to be discovered?_

_Where we are now, no._

_How many were converted?_ she asked.

A pause. _Twenty at least._

 _You converted_ twenty? _Luther, that's. . . that's as many as Jericho has right now._ Kara glanced at Simon with wide eyes.

"What? What's happening?"

_I guess so. Can we go back there?_

Kara sighed deeply. _I don't think that's a good idea right now. There has to be another place to hide. A whole group of androids is bound to grab attention. . . We need to take them somewhere closer than the docks._

Out the window, the sun was setting, and the skyline caught her eye. Old, dilapidated towers a mile or two away stood, right in the center of the nearest bad-part-of-town--but still near the middle of the city. Old houses and apartment buildings surrounded one in particular--an old cell tower, abandoned when the technology moved beyond a need for it, but not yet torn down.

As the sun set behind it, light shone behind, illuminating the place to her--as if the hand of God was pointing it out to her.

 _Kara?_ Luther's voice rang out in her head once again--worried, and unsure. _Where can we go?_

Kara smiled.

_I might have an idea._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads-up: the next chapter is gonna take some research for it to be what I want it to be. So expect a bit more of a wait for that one, unless I'm suddenly possessed again with the ability and motivation to write quickly.  
> You get sneak previews of my work--and also a say in the creative process, as I am always looking for beta readers and help for my newest chapter (though obviously the overarching story shall remain the same)--if you join the Connara discord server and hang out with us! There's plenty of wonderful people there who continue to inspire me. If you like this fic--or any of my fics--you can bother me about updating there. (Contact xdottx.tumblr.com for the link!) 
> 
> Until next time! I hope you have a wonderful day!


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